Beauty And The Morgan
by evgrrl09
Summary: Derek Morgan has qualities that lead him to become cursed by a powerful Witch. When Penelope Garcia enters his life, she may be his only hope of breaking the spell. AU retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Morgan/Garcia. Ends as fairy tales usually do :)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the silly plot bunnies that hop into my head.**

**So this is going to be my first AU-ish type of story. I'm going to experiment with it by playing with my favorite fairy tale of all time: Beauty and the Beast :) I hope you enjoy this!**

"Morgan, I must say, you've really outdone yourself this time," Jordan Todd said to her boyfriend, Derek Morgan, putting her arm around his waist and trailing a a nail up his chest. "This really is a great party."

Derek grinned down at Jordan and said, "What can I say? I'm a party boy."

"And the best kind," she purred.

He looked up at the clock on the club's wall and kissed Jordan's cheek. "Well, I've got an early morning meeting tomorrow, so I'm going to head home," he said, taking a last swig of his beer. "See you later, baby."

Jordan grabbed his arm and pouted, sticking out her bottom lip like a child. "Oh, baby!" she whined. "Can't I come home with you?"

He shook his head. "Hmm," he said. "Let me see...no. I've got an early morning. I don't need any distractions."

She glared at him. "So that's all I am? A distraction?"

He flashed her a thousand watt grin and said, "Yep." The he turned on his heel and headed out the door, exiting from his own party because he was Derek Morgan; he had the ability to walk out on things like that.

When he reached his apartment, he chucked his keys onto the kitchen counter and patted his dog, Clooney on the head. "Hi there, buddy," he said. He was really needing to go bed. The next morning would be a meeting morning and the BAU was being introduced to their new technical analyst. He wasn't particularly looking forward to it. New team members meant new people that he had to learn to work with. And he wasn't particularly interested in doing that. He had no idea who this Penelope Garcia was, and he didn't find himself caring. She was probably going to be another mediocre computer whiz with no interests other than getting her geek on.

Derek wasn't incredibly fond of women who didn't catch his eye immediately. Jordan had captured his attention fairly quickly, but he'd quickly begun to grow bored with her. She wasn't interesting once he got past her body. He didn't think they were going to last much longer. But then again, his relationships never lasted long.

He was a self-proclaimed player, and he knew it.

XXXXX

Penelope Garcia was looking forward to working with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. She'd just transferred from the Seattle Field Office and she was getting to work with one of the top teams in the federal government. She couldn't have been happier.

Her life had taken a surprising turn when she'd found out her boyfriend of four years was cheating on her with a dental hygienist. For some odd reason she hadn't been too upset. Yeah, it had hurt her pride. But she longed for more. Brad had been completely shallow and self-centered. Nothing she wanted to be associated with.

So the sex had been great? There was more to life than good sex.

Wasn't there.

So a move across to the opposite end of the country was just what she needed. The whole plane ride to DC she had looked on her computer at the files of all her new team members. The team leader, Agent Aaron Hotchner was an FBI superstar and David Rossi was his right hand man and equal in the profiling field. Agent Emily Prentiss was the daughter of an ambassador and had impressive ties to the international community and other divisions around the world. Agent Dr. Spencer Reid was pure genius, one of the youngest men to ever be on the BAU team. Agent Jennifer Jareau was their press liaison and an absolute sweetheart.

And then there was Derek Morgan, the heartthrob. Just his picture made Penelope's heart start to beat faster. His record was incredibly impressive, but there was a note in his file that mentioned he had broken fraternization rules multiple times. Somehow, that wasn't super surprising to her. Just looking at him was enough to make a girl's panties wet.

As she settled into her new apartment, she began mentally preparing herself for the day ahead when she would meet her new teammates. She was seriously wondering whether or not they were going to be impressed with her, but it didn't matter. As long as she could help people using her talents with a keyboard, she would be all set. That was all that really mattered to her.

Quickly, she showered and put on a pair of pajamas before getting into bed. For a long time after she turned off the lights she lay awake, thinking about the next day. And then, for some strange reason, she found herself thinking of Derek Morgan and his bright brown eyes. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ she thought. Sighing, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber.

XXXXX

The Witch watched as Derek Morgan strode leisurely to his car in the morning before arriving to work. She rolled her eyes as she watched him answer his phone with his usual rude swagger. Action had to be taken against him if she was to turn him into a decent human beings. She couldn't believe the man would possibly get anyone to love him, but if she was to try, she had to have a little faith.

So she had to whip up a little curse. Something to him to make him hideous on the outside as he was on the inside. Something to make him less of a womanizer and a jerk.

But first she had to give him a chance at redemption. She had to see if he truly was how he appeared. If he passed the test, she would let him continue his life.

But if he failed, she would force him to face who he truly was on the inside.

**Super short prologue before we get on to the real story :) Please read and review!**


	2. Penelope's First Day

**Disclaimer: Neither the beloved fairy tale nor Criminal Minds are mine...I just play with them for pleasure.**

**I am so glad you guys are liking this story! Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite fairy tale and my favorite Disney movie and I've always fantasized about doing a retelling with characters of my own making, but I've never been brave enough to do it. So I thought I'd test run a retelling using Morgan and Garcia :) If you would please review and let me know how I'm doing, I would be very grateful! Thank you for your review and I hope you like this next chapter :)**

**I also gave Seaver a role in this :)**

Penelope nervously walked into the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit and looked around in wonder. This was way different than the Seattle Office. This was Quantico, the big leagues. As she tried to keep her mouth from falling open, her cell phone rang from her bag. She answered it without looking at who was calling. "Hello?" she murmured.

"Hey Garcie! How's the first day going?" Penelope's best friend Ashley Seaver asked. Penelope and Ashley had been friends since Penelope, a senior at the time, found Ashley, a freshman, crying in the bathroom at their high school because her boyfriend had shown naked pictures to the whole freshman class. She was living in Boston at the time of Penelope's move and she was thrilled to be closer to her best friend. Apparently Penelope had waited too long to answer and Ashley said, "Hello? Earth to Penelope!"

Penelope shook her head. "Oh, sorry Ash," she said. "Well, I just got here, so nothing to report yet."

"Any cute guys?" Ashely purred with a laugh.

"Er, no," she lied. She decided she'd better not mention Derek Morgan, who was absolutely a "cute guy." He was probably the definition of cute guy. "But I'm not looking to date right now. You know that, sweetie."

Ashley sighed. "Penelope, you need to get out of this rut you're in because of Brad," she said. "You deserve a chance at happiness. Maybe the boy you're not telling me about can do that for you..."

Penelope groaned. "What makes you say there's a guy that I'm not telling you about?" she asked.

"Please," Ashley laughed. "I'm your best friend. I know these things about you. I can hear from the tone of your voice."

As Penelope was about to shoot back a retort, she saw an Agent coming towards her and she said, "Ash, I gotta run. I'll talk to you later!" Then she clicked the phone off and smiled at the man who was coming towards her. "Hi!" she said brightly. "I'm Penelope Garcia...I'm the Behavioral Analysis Unit's new technical analyst."

"Pleasure to meet you," he said, sticking out his hand. "I'm Agent Anderson. I'll take you to Agent Hotchner's office." He motioned for her to follow him up a ramp and into a large office. "Agent Hotchner, sir," Anderson said. "Your new technical analyst is here."

A stoic looking dark haired man looked up from his computer and nodded to her. Rising from his seat, he came around his desk and held out his hand to shake hers. "Aaron Hotchner," he said. "You can call me Hotch."

She nervously shook his hand and said, "Penelope Garcia...sir. It's a pleasure and an honor to meet you."

"Well, we're glad to have you aboard," he said. "We have a briefing right now. If you would join me, that would be great. I'll introduce you to the rest of the team." He motioned for her to follow him. Hurriedly she followed him out of the room and sped after him. "This is the round table room," he said. "We hold all our briefings here."

As they entered the room, Penelope felt her nerves jump ten percent. Everyone in the room looked up and stared at her. The back of her neck began to sweat and her stomach clenched and her throat grew tight. This might be more difficult than she thought. She waved awkwardly.

"Everyone, this is Penelope Garcia, our new technical analyst," Hotch said. "This is our team: David Rossi."

"Pleasure to meet you, _bella_," he said with a wink towards her. Penelope blushed. He seemed pretty easy going.

Hotch rolled his eyes and continued. "That right there is Emily Prentiss," he said. Emily merely waved and studied her quietly. "Jennifer Jareau is our press liaison."

"Call me JJ," the blonde said with a sweet smile.

"Our resident genius, Dr. Spencer Reid," Hotch continued.

"It's nice to meet you," the awkward looking younger man said with a smile.

"Hi," Penelope said, her voice squeaking.

Hotch checked his watch. "Has anyone seen -"

Suddenly someone came swaggering into the door. He smiled lazily and said, "Sorry I'm late. I got stuck in...traffic."

Hotch rolled his eyes. "And this is SSA Derek Morgan," he said dryly.

Derek shot Penelope a grin that melted her to a puddle. He held out his hand and took hers. "Nice to meet you," he said suavely. For a moment their eyes held and she felt something spark in her. And she could've sworn she saw it in his eyes too. Then he dropped her hand like it was no big deal and cleared his throat, breaking eye contact and looking towards JJ. "So, what's the case we caught?"

Penelope sighed internally and took her seat, ready to hear about her first violent case.

XXXXX

As Derek made it out to the air strip to take off for a small town in Michigan, he was feeling odd. And his mind was completely filled with thoughts of their new technical analyst. He couldn't get her out of his head. He couldn't figure out why either. She was completely and utterly not his type. She wore clothing that was too bright, she wore glasses, her makeup was too eccentric.

But he thought beneath it all that she was completely...beautiful.

He hadn't thought that about any woman in his life.

Other women were hot. Penelope Garcia was beautiful.

He shook his head and walked up the ramp to board the jet. "Hey guys," he said, plopping down in the seat next to JJ. "Sorry I'm a little late."

Emily snickered. "You're always late, Morgan."

"What was it this time?" Rossi quipped. "A quickie in a supply closet?"

"Yeah, how are things going with Jordan?" Reid asked curiously.

Derek snorted. "I'm thinking I'm gonna drop her," he said. "I'm not feeling it with her. She's too shallow."

"This coming from the man who spends two hours a day picking out his shirt," Rossi joked.

Derek glared at him. "I do not spend two hours picking out a shirt."

"Seriously though, Morgan," Emily joked. "You don't treat women very well. The day you find a woman who can change your beastly ways is the day I'll rejoice for eternity."

Hotch boarded the plane as Morgan was about to make a retort and said, "Alright. Let's start working victimology. We've got few hours to get to work on this."

Derek sighed and rubbed his forehead. He had to get ready to work this case. And he had to keep his head from drifting to thoughts of their beautiful new technical analyst.

XXXXX

"I swear Ash, this day could not get anymore awkward," Penelope said with a sigh as she used her chopsticks to put another pice of chicken in her mouth. "They haven't called me at all for help. That makes no sense to me. Why would they hire me if they didn't need me?"

Ashley sighed. "Oh sweetie," she said. "I bet things are just going slowly. How about your eye candy? Maybe he could help you out."

"You're not going to give up on this until I tell you about him, are you?" Penelope said, rolling her eyes.

"Not at all," Ashley giggled.

Penelope rubbed her forehead and as she was about to tell her best friend about Derek Morgan, she got a call from _E. Prentiss_. "Oh! Ashley! Gotta go! Incoming call!"

"Good luck, sweetie!"

Penelope quickly pressed the incoming call to come in. "Hello?" she said quickly. "Agent Prentiss?"

Prentiss laughed. "Relax Garcia," she said. "You can just call me Prentiss. Or Emily. Whichever you prefer."

"Okay," Penelope said weakly. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"We need you to do a quick cross check for us," she said.

"Ready and willing," she said.

"Look and see if the two victims Harrison Jackson and Ron Yelchin had any places that they both might have gone," she said.

Penelope nodded and her fingers began to fly over the keyboard. "Hmm," she said. "I'm on it it. And according to my records the two of them both went to the same gym. A place called _Snap Fitness_."

"That was extremely fast," Prentiss said, clearly impressed. "Thanks Garcia. Excellent work."

"You're very welcome, Agent Pren - oh, I mean Prenti - oh, I mean, Emily!" she chirped.

Prentiss laughed. "Relax," she said. "We'll call you if we have anything else to ask about. Keep running those background checks." Then the phone clicked off.

Penelope sighed. That went much better than she thought it would.

XXXXX

_Two Days Later_

As the team boarded the jet, JJ said, "You know, Garcia really came through for us. She's the best analyst we've ever had."

"I agree," Rossi said. "That girl is a tech kitten. She's excellent."

Morgan scoffed. "She was alright," he said. "I think calling her 'the best' is going a little far." But he was putting up a false front. Penelope Garcia's work had been exceptional. But he had to pretend he didn't care. She was still on his mind. He had to stop it. By any means necessary.

"What? Is she not 'hot' enough for you?" JJ asked, arching an eyebrow. "Because I think she's adorable. She's gorgeous."

_Gotta change the subject_, he thought frantically.

"Hey, so I just finished renovating an old mansion out in the woods," he said brightly. "I was thinking we could all go out there and have a little party. There's a pool so bring Henry and Jack. It'll be fun."

JJ smiled brightly. "That would be a great way to get to know Penelope," she said happily. "We should invite her."

Derek waved his hand in the air. "Nah," he said. "Let's get to know her some other way. We hardly know her. She could be a crazy person. Let's just forget about her for now."

Reid sighed, but he said, "Well, when is said party?"

"Hmm, let's see," he said. "How about tomorrow night? We've got a long weekend for Memorial Day."

Hotch sat down and said, "Alright then. Tomorrow night. I'll bring the beer."

"And I'll bring the juice boxes," JJ said.

XXXXX

The Witch watched as Derek Morgan disembarked from the BAU's jet with a careless smile on his face. She needed to act quickly. And if she was to teach Derek Morgan a lesson in being a decent human being, she would have to strike when he least expected.

Say, a party he was holding at a mansion.

**So if you want to guess which characters will be which (for example, who will be Mrs. Potts, et.) leave a guess :) I'm kind of curious to see who you guys think will be who! Please review!**


	3. The Curse

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Criminal Minds :*( Now I'm sad.**

**I wish I could work on this more often, but with the house I live in it's difficult to get enough time to work on it consistently. So here it is finally! Now, I wanted to make sure I put this out there that I will not be turning the team into teapots and candlesticks. That's all I shall divulge regarding that. Anyways, thank you for the kind reviews, follows, and favorites! You are all lovely people :)**

"This really was a great idea Morgan," Rossi said, tipping his head back and taking a sip of his beer. He, Derek, and the rest of the team, along with Will, Henry, and Jack were sitting in the ballroom of the mansion Derek had just finished renovating. There was a booming fire in the giant fireplace and they'd set up a giant leather couch and armchairs, throw pillows, and an oriental run in which they were all sitting on and around. It was almost eleven o'clock at night and Jack and Henry had fallen asleep, exhausted from swimming for hours on end, on bean bag chairs.

Morgan grinned and sipped his beer as well. "Yeah, I know," he said smugly. "I'm glad you were all able to come. It's been fun. This weekend will be awesome."

"Too true," Emily said with a huge smile. "Beer, pool, no Strauss." She clinked her beer can with JJ's and grinned. "Best weekend ever."

JJ sighed. "I still think we should have invited Penelope," she said. "She's really very sweet. And great at what she does." She arched a brow at Morgan. "Why couldn't we have asked her to come join us?"

"She's..." His voice trailed off and his mind started to think of every word that could be used to describe Penelope.

Odd.

Unusual.

_Beautiful_.

There he was going again. Thinking about a girl as not hot. He was thinking crazy thoughts now. This was so not his normal behavior. He was a player, not a committed man. He needed to remember who he was. He had to stop thinking about Garcia. She was not who he belonged with. He needed arm candy. Not someone like her. She was too...weird and unusual. The way she answered the phone was odd and unprofessional.

Yeah. He had to clear his mind of her. And a state of complete inebriation seemed like the right way to go.

"We just don't know her, that's all," he finished unsteadily, averting his eyes. "I wanted to spend the time with you guys. Just you guys." Suddenly the doorbell rang and he was grateful for it. He needed to get out of this conversation. Putting his beer down on the table, he frowned. "Who the hell is ringing us this late?" he grumbled. "Ugh. I'll be back."

As soon as Derek disappeared, Hotch smirked. Rossi looked at him with an arched brow. "What's so amusing to you, Aaron?" he asked.

Hotch shook his head. "I think Morgan has a little crush on Penelope Garcia," he chuckled. "Notice how he keeps wanting to avoid the topic of her and he averts eye contact."

Emily snorted. "You know Hotch, I want to believe Morgan could find someone _not_ a bimbo, but I just don't see it happening. He's too shallow. My guess is he would sleep with Garcia and break her heart. I love him to death, but he's just...a beast."

"I believe he can find happiness," JJ said. "He just needs to find the right woman. He just needs to learn to control his temper."

XXXXX

Derek sighed as he padded over to the door. When he opened it, he looked out and what he saw was a downright frightening sight. An old woman with a face covered in wrinkles and sprinkled with moles with a bent back was standing on the stone porch, a desperate look in her eyes. He winced.

"Er...can I help you?" he asked.

Her voice came out coarse and gravelly. "Please..." she begged. "I just need a place to stay for the night. My car broke down and I have -"

Derek held up his hands. "Listen, lady," he said. "I can't let you in. I've got guests. I'm sorry. You'll have to call a mechanic."

"Please sir!" she begged. "I know I'm frightening looking, but I can't spend the night alone on this road! It could be very dangerous!"

"I'm sorry," he said, starting to shut the door. "I hope you have some luck getting a hold of a mechanic."

She held up her hands one last time and produced something from her messenger bag that she had at her side. It was a single white rose, unharmed even from being in a full bag. "This is all I have to offer," she said, tears in her eyes. "If you let me stay the night, I'll give you this."

"Lady, I said no," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Get out of here before I call the cops." Then he shut the door in her face and returned to the ballroom.

XXXXX

Penelope had popped open a bottle of wine and went to her home computer to Skype with Ashley. "Hey sweetie," Penelope said, holding up her glass to fake clink her glass with Ashley's. "So you wanted to hear all about this guy?"

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Duh!" she giggled. "Tell me all about him!"

Sighing, she started to dish. "Okay," she said. "_Well_...his name is Derek Morgan."

"Ooh!" Ashley interrupted. "Even his name sounds _sexy_!"

"Hush dearie," she laughed. "Well, his name is Derek Morgan. He's six feet tall exactly. He's got cocoa brown eyes and the mocha skin to match and -"

"You know, I hear that black guys are the best in bed!"

Penelope snorted. "That's so stereotypical," she said. "Anyways, he's got this deep voice that sounds like a purring kitten. Well, sort of like a purring kitten. It's really deep. Also, he's got some tattoos, at least two. One of them is a lion."

Ashley sighed dreamily. "He sounds _wonderful_," she said.

"Ah, that's the opposite word for him," she said. "He's a complete ass! He's rude, egotistical, _womanizing_!"

"I'm sensing a 'but' though," Ashley said.

Penelope sighed once more. "I feel like there might be more to him," she murmured, taking a sip of her wine. "I just don't know if I'll see it."

"How much research did you do on him?" Ashley asked. "Because I _know_ you did research on that whole team. Don't try and deny it." She smirked at Penelope's look of protest. "You are my best friend, sweetie. I know how you operate."

Rubbing her temples in defeat, she said, "I just - can't seem to figure him out. I want to, but I don't know. He's just such a jackass that I don't think I'll be able to break through his barricade." Her head fell back against the cushions of her tiger print couch and she took a gulp of her wine.

"Oh, honey," Ashley said with sympathy, although she was smiling through it and her eyes had a glint to them that showed she had a devious plan up her sleeve. "You are s-m-i-double t-e-n! You are absolutely, positively, surely -"

Penelope snapped her fingers. "Hey, hey!" she said. "Focus your little twisted mind for me! I am not smitten with this ego centric profiler! I just find him to be a curious specimen of a human being."

"A _hot_ curious specimen of a human being," Ashley said sarcastically. Suddenly her cell phone rang with a text tone and she checked her message. Growling, she said, "Er, it's my mother. I have to go. She's been getting really paranoid lately since I moved to Boston."

Penelope waved her fingers in a farewell. "Night, night, Ash," she said. "I'll talk to you soon."

Ashley smiled. "Okay! See you later," she said before they clicked off. Setting her computer on her coffee table, she leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. She was kind of glad the weekend was a long one. Sure, she'd be spending it alone, but it would be great to be able to drown herself in wine and then quite possibly a bottle of tequila.

Ah yes. That would be lovely.

Complete and total inebriation.

XXXXX

"Who was that?" JJ asked when Derek returned to the ballroom that had been converted to a hang out area.

Derek shook his head. "Eh, no one," he said. "Just someone lost and in need of directions."

Rossi looked down at his Rolex. "Wow," he whistled. "It's already one o'clock in the morning. The rooms upstairs are set up, right?"

Derek nodded. "You betcha," he said. "Just take yourself up to whatever room you want."

As everyone was rising from the couch though, a bright and blinding light filled the room and an odd and overly strong wind knocked everyone backwards so that they fell backwards onto the couch.

"Mama?" Henry yawned, sitting up. "What's going on?"

JJ looked around and motioned for Henry and Jack to come back towards them. "What the hell is going on?" Reid asked, sitting up awkwardly.

"BAU team," an eerily familiar voice said.

Morgan frowned. "What the -"

"Strauss?" Rossi said with an open mouth at the same time as Emily gasped.

Coming forward to become visible to the whole room, Erin Strauss nodded, her face grim. "Yes, it's me," she said. "I know this might be a shock to you all."

"No shit it's a shock," Rossi snapped. "What the hell is with all the theatrics? Smoke and mirrors, Erin? I know you're dramatic, but seriously? Crashing Morgan's party?"

"This isn't they type of crashing you might think it is," she said striding forward. When she came forward. It was clear that her outfit was not normal either. It was a long green gown that made her look like an elf from _Lord of the Rings_.

Derek went forward to confront her. "What the hell are you doing here, Strauss?" he demanded. "You have no right to be here. This is private property. And you most certainly weren't invited."

Strauss chuckled and went forward to meet Derek's gaze evenly. "I am well aware I was not invited," she said. "You rejected me just moments ago when I presented you with a rose." Sweeping her hand in front of his face, she held a rose in her hand as if by..._magic_? "Remember this face?" Snapping her fingers, her appearance instantly changed to the hag from the porch. With another snap, she returned her face to the one they were all familiar with.

"What the hell?" Derek said hoarsely. Looking towards his team, he asked, "Am I hallucinating or are you guys seeing this too?"

His team shook their heads dumbly. "No, we're seeing this too," Hotch said in disbelief. "Erin, how are you doing this?"

She laughed. "It's simple. I'm a Witch."

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Emily demanded.

Strauss turned to face Prentiss and she smirked. "No Agent Prentiss," she said. "I'm not 'freaking kidding' you. This is very serious." Her attention turned back towards Derek and her face became deadly serious. "But the reason I'm here is _you_, Agent Morgan."

He stared at her. "Why are you here about me?" he asked incredulously. "What the hell did I do?"

"What haven't you done?" she laughed sarcastically. "You are the most narcissistic man I've ever met. You care about no one but yourself. You are hot tempered and you treat women like dirt. You are a terrible human being." She sighed. "And I'm here to punish you for your misdeeds."

It was Derek who laughed this time. "What are you going to do?" he asked. "Turn me into a frog?"

She smirked. "No," she said. "I'm going to make you as ugly on the outside as you are on the inside. I'm going to force you realize what you really are. And your whole team will be here with you." She paused. Bringing a mirror to her, she thrust it in front of Derek. His gut dropped when he saw what had happened to him. His face was severely scarred and there were deep gashes on it. His body was now thinner and awkward looking. Hurriedly he unbuttoned his shirt and saw that his whole body was scarred and there were even deeper looking gashes.

He was unrecognizable.

Whirling around to look at his team, he saw that they were clouded in smoke and he couldn't see any of them. He turned back to Strauss and gaped at her. "What have you done?" he yelled furiously.

She smiled. "I've cursed you and your team," she said simply. "I've made you ugly on the outside, to prove to you that you're truly ugly."

"Change me back!"

She shook her head. "I won't do it," she said. "But you do have a chance to break the curse on your own."

He eyed her distrustfully. "What is it?" he asked.

"If you can find someone to love you while you look like this and they tell you they love you, the curse will be broken," she said. "You have exactly one year. But if you don't find anyone, you'll be cursed for the rest of your life. As will your team. You will all live here and only will you be released from this magic when you break the curse." She gestured to them and he turned around to see his team, all of their appearances altered and they looked completely different. All of them looked around at each other gasped at the way they looked now.

Derek was ready to demand Strauss again to change them all back, but when he turned, she was gone, leaving nothing but an empty fireplace in her wake.


	4. New Looks

**Disclaimer: Neither are mine. I shall cry now. Wait for it...the tears are coming...**

**Thank you all so much for the support and reviews and follows and favorites! I appreciate you all taking the time to review and leave your comments :) I congratulate those of you who guessed Strauss was our Witch and soon you will know who the others are. Now, their names will not be the same, but I will be sure to make a list of them at some point and post it just in case. Now...on with the story :)**

Derek ran to the window to look at his reflection. He was hideous. His face was scarred, his tattoos were now completely black squares, and the deep gashes looked frightening. He touched his face and his breathing grew shallow. Something like this was not possible. Magic. It just was not real. He whirled around to face his team and he saw that they were all different looking. Even Will and the boys looked different. In fact, he didn't even know who was who.

"Who's who?" he yelled.

"I'm Hotch," an elderly looking man said, running his hands over his face. He'd aged to late fifties and his hair was streaked with gray. His face had changed so he looked more elderly. At least his voice sounded similar.

A brown haired man with a twirly mustache and beady eyes who appeared to be panicking squeaked, "It's Rossi! Me! I'm...oh my _God_, I'm not even Italian anymore!" Rossi's voice apparently had not been spared and he now seemed to be a little more heavy set. Strauss apparently thought what she'd done to him was a chance at some form of revenge.

"Jesus H. Christ," a voice that distinctly indicated Emily Prentiss growled. Her appearance had changed to a beautiful Asian who looked to be barely twenty years old growled. "You've got to be kidding me! I barely look old enough to drink!" Looking up and glaring, she hollered, "Prentiss here!"

A nervous looking young man who resembled a brown haired Heath Ledger wearing a pair of glasses wrung his hands together and choked, "Reid...I'm Reid." He ran his hands through his hair and muttered, "Oh dear Lord! What's happened to us? This isn't possible! Magic! That's scientifically impossible!"

"Henry! Jack! Which one of you is which?" a thick Eastern European yelped. A black haired woman with full lips and wide and shiny eyes grasped at her throat and cried, "Oh God! What happened to my voice?"

Another Eastern European accent came from a young five year old's mouth. "Mama!" he cried frantically.

"Oh, Henry!" the black haired woman cried, dropping to her knees and throwing her arms around the young boy who closely resembled her. "It's okay," she whispered, rocking him back and forth. "It's Mama...we all just look different."

"It's true," an Irish accent said. The only possible person the middle aged man could be was Will. He was equally skinny as he was normally and he had red hair and a red beard. "We all look completely different."

"Dad," the other child asked. "What the heck happened to us?" He was a skinnier, younger version of the man Hotch had become. It was Jack.

Derek didn't know what to do. He was shell shocked. Looking around, he saw that the mansion was now fully furnished and filled with ornate objects. On the table where their beer cans had been was now a sheet of paper. Angrily he grabbed the paper and read it.

_Agents of the Behavioral Analysis ,_

_By now you will have noticed that your appearances have been altered and you are no longer the people you once were. Well, now you are in your new home. You are not the people you once were. From now on you all live under the shadow of your beast of a coworker. If he finds someone who he loves and who will love him in return within the year, you will be returned to your lives and you will be yourselves._

_Should he fail, you will all be left as the people you are now._

_You all have new identities: Aaron, you and your son are in charge of the gardens and your names shall be Jonathan and Harrison; David, you and Agent Prentiss are a butler and a maid, your names being Colin and Leanne; Dr. Reid, as you are an avid reader, I have put you in charge of the library, which hopefully you will find to be an extensive collection and your name is now Jackson; Agent Jareau, you are in charge of all household matters while your son will help you as he is needed and you are now Natasha and your son is Marcus; your husband, William, you are the cook, Declan._

_And Derek Morgan, you are now Greyson...a heartless recluse._

_Best wishes and love,_

_Erin Strauss...The Witch_

Strauss had a sick sense of humor.

"I can't believe this is really happening!" Rossi - now Colin - growled. "Someday I'll be sure to kick Strauss' ass for this!"

"At least your voice isn't completely transformed to that of an Eastern European girl!" JJ gasped angrily. She pulled Henry and Will close and wiped the tears from her eyes. "This is insane!"

"You're telling me!" Emily growled. "I'm a _maid_! Who the hell does Strauss think she is?"'

"We all need to stay calm," Hotch said stoically, his hand on Jack's shoulder. "There doesn't seem to be anything we can do right now. We just need to sit tight. It's just -"

"_Sit tight_?" Derek roared. "That's easy for you all to say! You don't look like a pariah! I can't go anywhere looking like this!"

Emily - now Leanne - looked over at him sympathetically. "Morgan, chill," she said. "All we have to do is find a girl who loves you. What about Jordan? All we have to do is get her out here and she'll tell you she loves you and then we'll all be back to normal and we can go home again."

Slowly, the man Derek had become started to calm down. He nodded. "Yeah," he said. "She must love me! Then we can all be normal again...completely normal." He ran to the coffee table and rummaged for his cell phone. Hurriedly he started typing Jordan's number onto the key pad and waited while the phone rang.

"Derek!" Jordan's overexcited voice cried into the phone. "I didn't think you would call! What are you doing right now?" It was clear she was hoping for him to call based on the tone of her voice.

Clearing his throat, Derek had to make sure his voice was even and there was no danger of sounding different than his usual suave self. "Hey baby," he said. "I was wondering if you wanted to come hang out at the new mansion I renovated."

A feminine gasp came out of the other end of the line and Jordan squeaked, "Oh my goodness! Derek, I so absolutely want to be there! Text me the address! Ooh, how far away is it?"

He coughed and rubbed his face. "Um, it's about an hour away from DC," he said. "Please...hurry. I can't...stand being away from you."

"Oh, Derek!" Jordan cooed. "Okay, I'm on my way to you right now. Have a king-sized bed ready, baby..."

Shaking his head, Derek tossed the phone back on the table. He looked at the rest of his team, all of them different from what they once were. All of them looked just as crushed as he did. But the difference between them was they at least looked normal.

Derek, however, was the farthest from normal he had ever been.

He was a beast.

Feeling worse than he ever had before, Derek looked at each and every one of them. When his eyes met Jack's, the young boy visibly cringed at his appearance. Turning away from them all, he hurried towards the grand staircase in the atrium. Over his shoulder, he yelled, "Send her to my room when she gets here! And don't say anything about how I look!"

Once he was gone, the team looked at each other and cleared their throats. Hotch, or Jonathan as he was now supposed to be called, said, "Guys, we have to start getting ready for Jordan to get here."

"Do you honestly think that _Jordan Todd_ is the kind of love Strauss was talking about?" Dave asked with a roll of his eyes. "You remember what she said...he has to love her too! Even if Jordan is crazy enough to be in love with Morgan, there's not a way in hell that he is actually in love with her."

"Well, maybe it will work," JJ's new accented voice said, although it sounded like she was questioning her own thought. "We just have to believe it might help."

Hotch sighed. Then he turned to Reid. "Reid, apparently you're in charge of the library," he said. "Why don't you try researching it? See if you can find anything about curses like this."

Reid nodded. "Magic is something I haven't completely looked into," he said. "I know about rituals and the impact magic and witchcraft has had on history, but this...this is entirely out of my comfort zone! I'll have to approach it from a whole new angle." He hurried off without another word in search of the library Strauss had spoken of.

"I can't believe Strauss did this to us," Rossi growled, sitting himself down on the couch. "She may hate us, but seriously? Changing us to other people? What the hell does she expect?"

"Isn't it obvious, Dave?" Emily snapped. "She hates us so much that she's even willing to stick us all here with Morgan!"

The Irishman Will had become said, "Either way, we're in this together. There's nothing we can do but wait and see if Jordan will break the curse."

"And if she doesn't, we're going to have to find another woman who could learn to love a beast," JJ said, pulling Henry onto her lap and kissing his cheek.

XXXXX

Penelope was feeling extremely bored around midnight and she was relatively buzzed, so immediately she grabbed her laptop to do the most logical thing she could think of. Snooping into the personal lives of her new team members.

Rather, one in particular.

"Who _are_ you, Derek Morgan?" she slurred to herself. "You make me _curious_, you sexy looking man!" She started typing away furiously and pulled up Derek Morgan's personal files. According to his file he'd gone to Northwestern on a football scholarship, but then his knee was injured and he could't play anymore. He'd been a cop in Chicago before coming to Quantico. He always paid his taxes on time, he had a dog named Clooney according to the vet records on his file. Normal bachelor stuff.

But next to all this, he had filed two restraining orders against two different women. One of them, Tamara Barnes had been a former girlfriend who was upset with him and started trailing him and threatening him. The other was against Trisha Hanson, an agent from Counter Terrorism who became obsessed with him, going so far as to break into his house and cut the brakes on his car. In one of the police reports, Hanson had said Derek was in love with her and he was just too shy to say anything. That woman was now in prison for attempted murder.

"Oh, Agent Morgan," she giggled. "You're such a womanizer. But in some way I feel very sorry for you. Very, very _sowwy_!" She started laughing uncontrollably before closing her computer and setting it down on the coffee table again. Rising from the bed, she tottered over to her kitchen and set the glass she'd been drinking from down in the sink. She went to her room and stripped out of everything but her panties and slid on a tank top before crashing onto her mattress.

Even after she turned the light off though she couldn't fall asleep. Her mind couldn't get off of the topic of Derek Morgan. She found herself more than just attracted to him. She wanted to know who he was and why he was hiding behind a facade of women and a hothead attitude.

"Oh, Derek Morgan," she sighed sleepily. "What are you hiding?"


	5. We're Doomed

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of these brilliant works :(**

**Howdy folks! Thank you for your reviews! I'm very glad you guys like this story so far. I'm having so much fun writing it! Now, I'm leaving a list of who is meant to be who. Due to lack of characters in Beauty and the Beast and too many BAU agents not all of them will have a classic person they are meant to be.**

**Derek: The Beast...duh...**

**Cogsworth and Lumiere: Prentiss and Rossi - I figured their banter back and forth will make them perfect for the role**

**JJ and Henry: Mrs Potts and Chip - Most of you were correct about these two :) Actually, I think all of you who made guesses about JJ were right.**

**Will: The Stove - Seeing as he's the cook and all.**

**Reid and Hotch and Jack are roles that I kind of created. Although Jack and Henry will probably share Chip qualities.**

Jordan found the mansion Derek had sent her the address and felt oddly frightened. It seemed even more foreboding with the lightening and the dark clouds that threatened a storm. The vicious winds didn't help. However soon it would all be worth it. Underneath her tight black skirt she was wearing no panties and she was mentally preparing herself for the amazing sex that she always had with Derek. She was so set on keeping Morgan under her thumb and she was going to have him as long as she could.

He was a beast in bed.

She'd never come so hard in her life with any other man.

She knocked hesitantly on the grand doors and waited for Derek to come to the door. Maybe he would come naked and there would rose petals and candles and soft jazz music. A shiver rushed up her spine and she smiled excitedly. Great sex was coming her way. However, instead of a naked Morgan answering the door, a young and petite Asian girl who looked to be barely twenty years old opened the door. "Oh, hello," she said, her voice coming out softly. "Mr. Morgan was expecting you." She eyed Jordan distrustfully, but held the door open for her nonetheless.

Glaring at the girl, she smirked and said, "Well, just tell me how to get to him."

"He's in the master bedroom," the girl said, gesturing towards the grand staircase. "Follow the hall until you reach the double doors at the end. He's in there waiting for you."

Jordan visibly smirked and nodded. "Thanks," she said, sauntering by the girl and going up the stairs. She made her way up the red carpeted stairs and started down the hallway. The hall was filled with artwork and different objects and sculptures. Some of the art was relatively morbid, many of them pictures of rituals and dancing around fires. She cringed. "What the hell?" she said. Shaking her head, she kept going. "Whatever."

When she reached the double doors the maid had spoken of, she grinned seductively and made sure her top few buttons were unbuttoned just right. Opening the room, she poked her head in and called, "Oh, Derek? I'm here, baby." She stepped into the dark room more fully and purred, "Are you in here, you hunky SSA?"

"Jordan?"

She looked in the direction where Derek's voice had come from. She could only see the outline of his body, but she smiled nonetheless. "There you are, baby," she murmured. "I'm so glad you called me." She tried to get closer to him, but he held up his hands frantically.

"No, don't come any closer!" he yelped. "Please!"

"Derek," she whined. "Why are you holding out on me? I just want us to get naked!"

"Jordan, I need to know if you love me," he said. "If you really truly love me..."

Laughing, Jordan said nervously, "Of course I do, baby. You know I do. Just come and see me."

"Jordan, what I'm really trying to ask you is...would you love me no matter what? Even if something bad -"

Jordan sighed dramatically and put both hands on her hips. "Derek, I am not wearing any panties and I am unbelievably horny!" she said. "Please just get to the point! If you want me to tell you I love you, I will!"

But the moment Derek stepped forward and turned on a light, she regretted every word she'd just said.

Derek - well, he didn't look like Derek at all. There was no way the man in front of her was Derek Morgan. Though he still had muscle tone, he was significantly thinner looking and there were slashes and scars all over his body. He wasn't wearing a shirt and she could see every change on his body. A gasp escaped her throat and she backed up hurriedly. "Oh my God!" she screamed. "Who are you?"

"Jordan, it's me!" he pleaded, trying to go closer to her. "Please! You said you loved me!"

She cringed and felt behind her for the door. "Stay the hell away from me!" she screeched. Then she turned around and sprinted through the door and hurried from the house.

XXXXX

"Well, based on the screaming and the screeching of a car, I'd say the Jordan idea didn't work at all," Rossi said bitterly, digging through the cabinets in the kitchen. He was looking for booze and he definitely needed it. "Oh, found it!" He pulled out a bottle of old scotch. He observed the bottle and pulled out a tumbler to pour it into. "Well, at least Erin decided to give us the good stuff."

The whole team, sans Derek, were gathered in the enormous kitchen. JJ and Hotch had just finished putting Henry and Jack back to bed upstairs and had returned to join them.

"No shit the Jordan idea didn't work," Prentiss snapped, seizing Rossi's tumbler and downing it in one fell swoop. "God, I hate that bitch! You know? In some ways I'm glad Jordan's not the woman who Morgan loves and loves him. Then we'd have to deal with her for the rest of eternity." Rossi shot her a glare and she cocked a brow. "What?"

"You took my drink, that's what!" he growled, taking the tumbler.

JJ held up a finger. "Guys? Have any of you thought about what Strauss is going to tell people about where we are? We can't keep our jobs if we're not there."

"Simple," Hotch said tiredly. "She can tell them whatever. We're undercover, we've moved...or I guess, since she can apparently use magic, she could wipe people's memories. She'll have an easier time than ever if she can use that."

Rossi sighed. "We're doomed," he said, filling his glass once again.

"I don't think we should give up on him just yet," JJ said confidently. "I think he'll find someone if he tries."

Emily raised a brow. "Oh yeah?" she said. "We're talking about Morgan here! The man wouldn't know what romantic love is if it hit him in the face. Rossi's right. We. Are. Doomed." Then she put her forehead on the counter and groaned.

"So what are we going to do while Reid is researching?" Will asked. Seeing as his job Strauss had assigned him was cooking, he'd started whipping up food for them.

Hotch sighed. "Well, we can't exactly go around kidnapping girls," he said. "We've got to get Derek out of this house to find someone."

"He's got to find someone in a year and all the girls he dates are like Jordan," Rossi said tiredly. "My guess is there will be more dates like this unless he finds a nice girl. One who isn't going to see what he looks like on the outside and run. Or quite frankly, the inside. He's terrible to women."

"You guys should have a little more faith in Derek," JJ said in a scolding type of tone. "I believe in him. I think if he really tried he could fall in love. I also think it's totally possible for someone to fall in love with him if he's willing to let his guard down and show some kindness."

Emily and Rossi snorted at the same time. "We're doomed," they said.

JJ stood and shook her head. "No," she said. "We're not doomed. I'm just going to go and try to talk to him. Maybe he'll listen."

XXXXX

After Jordan had stormed out screaming the entire time, Derek ended up punching a hole in the wall. He was feeling the utter hopelessness of the moment with an intensity that could only be compared to chasing down an unsub. Sitting down on the lush bed that was in the room, he put his head in his hands. What the hell was he going to do? Someone had to fall in love with him and he had to fall in love with her. He'd never been in love with any woman in his life.

Sure, there had been girlfriends and they _thought_ they loved him. Tamara Barnes had been a former girlfriend, but her clingy, neediness had started to suffocate him and he dumped her in an attempt to free himself from the unbearable restraints their relationship put on him. Her way of saying she loved him was threatening him. Trisha Hanson from Counter Terrorism had an obsession problem. Neither of them had actually loved him.

No, the kind of love Strauss was talking about was the kind of love he didn't believe existed. How was he supposed to fall in love when he didn't believe he could find it? The type of love that broke curses wasn't for him. Maybe it was for someone else, but not for him. He wouldn't even know where to begin with falling in love.

At the moment all he wanted to do was call his mother and ask for her advice. Maybe she would be able to give him some guidance. But it was two in the morning out in Chicago. He couldn't call her until the next day.

A knock sounded from the door and he looked up. "Come in," he yelled.

The door opened and JJ's new form appeared in the doorway. "Derek? Can I come in?" she asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever," he said, keeping his gaze away from hers. He couldn't stand to see the look of pity she was sure to give him. She sat down next to him and they sat in silence for a long moment.

"Derek," she said. "I want you to know that we're all here for you. We're going to stick by you until you find someone who you love and who loves you. It'll be okay. You'll see."

"Gee, JJ," he snorted. "That's comforting. At least you don't look completely hideous. You're hot still. I can't go anywhere like this!"

She shook her head. "See?" she said. "That's your problem. You're too stuck on appearances. You need to get past all that."

"You know what? I really don't need this right now," he snapped. "Just...leave."

JJ sighed and rose from her spot next to him. "Okay," he said. "I'll let you go. Please...think about it." Then she rose to her feet and headed out the door. As she was about to leave she looked back at him like she would say more, but then she clamped her mouth shut and left, leaving Derek alone and in silence.

When she descended the grand staircase and reached the bottom floor again, she met Emily. Emily crossed her brand new small, nimble arms across her chest and smirked. "So how'd that heart to heart go?" she asked smugly.

JJ shot her a look and muttered, "Not super well...you may be right. We're doomed."

**As always, read and review please :)**


	6. A Long Day Of Nothing

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds :*( I'm sad.**

**Thank you all for the reviews :) I'm so glad you are enjoying this story...I'm going to be honest, this is probably my favorite story I've embarked on in the world of fan fiction. Now that the curse has been cast and we know who is who in the mansion, we've got to get our Beauty of the story to go there. But first, an appearance from the one and only Erin Strauss! This chapter is very Penelope heavy, seeing as there was no mention of her in the previous installment. So kick back and enjoy :)**

**PS -I'm very sorry this chapter is so late in being released! I just started a new job and I'm also in the process of packing up my room to go to college...some nights I fall into bed with my eyes already closed.**

Penelope strode into the BAU after the long Memorial Day weekend, only to be called into Erin Strauss' office. She had only heard rumors about Chief Strauss and all of them told her that her boss' boss was a frightening force of a woman.

Lord only knew why the Ice Queen was calling her into her office.

She took a deep breath and entered the Section Chief's office. "Chief Strauss?" she said hesitantly. "You wanted to see me."

Erin Strauss had an air to her that downright scared Penelope. She had eyes that could suck happiness out of the air and secrete venom in its place. Her facial expression made the hair on the back of Penelope's neck stand up. And the look on Strauss' face when she entered the office froze her blood. Penelope gulped. She wasn't sure she liked the way Strauss was looking at her. It was hard just to look her in the eye. There was something...mystical about her, for lack of a better word. There was a hard glint in her expression as she nodded to her. "Ah, yes," she said. "Ms. Garcia. I called you in here to let you know that the team you worked with has...disbanded in a sense."

"What?" Penelope asked in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"Just what it sounds like," she said impatiently. "They've all been reassigned to other jobs or moved stations. Agent Hotchner went to the New York office, Agent Rossi decided to take a sabbatical to work on his next book, Agent Prentiss went to join Interpol, Agent Jareau had an undercover assignment given to her, Dr. Reid went to the Los Angeles, and Agent Morgan returned to Chicago to be closer to family."

"So, do I have a team? Or do I have to transfer again?" Penelope asked worriedly. Yet another relocation after a three thousand mile one from Seattle was too excessive.

Strauss smirked and shook her head. "No Ms. Garcia, you will not have to transfer. Currently we are looking for replacements for them all. Temporary ones. We don't know yet if they'll be back. If they do choose to return, they will get their jobs back. However if they don't, the temporary agents will become the permanent Behavioral Analysis Unit. Until this new team is assembled however, you will be assisting Sam Cooper's team

Penelope blinked. She found it incredibly strange the _whole_ BAU would just pack up and leave. "Wait...so they all just up and decided to leave?" she asked. "That makes no sense. Why would a whole team of profilers just decide to drop their jobs?"

Strauss cocked a brow at her in annoyance. "Ms. Garcia, it's not your job to figure out what does and doesn't make sense," she said snippily. "Your job is to work from the computers. Now I suggest you go and meet your replacement team. That's your one job at the moment." She looked back down at her work, clearly dismissing Penelope.

Sighing internally, Penelope nodded and took off out the door, feeling completely baffled at how her team of a few days could just drop off the face of the planet.

XXXXX

"So your team is all gone?" Ashley squeaked over the phone. "Even Mr. Hotty Pants?"

Penelope nodded even though she was just talking on the phone. She was sitting in her office during an uneventful day at work and the only thing to do was order in Chinese food and call Ashley. Already she found herself bored. She wanted to be working, using her skills with the computer to help save people's lives. The day was most certainly not heading in that direction. So far she had yet to even meet Sam Cooper and she was too frightened of Strauss to leave her office.

Her day was not going the way she anticipated her time in Quanitco would go.

"Even Mr. Hotty Pants," she confirmed. "Every last one of them is gone."

"You should use your super amazing computer skills to find out if your Section Chief is lying," she suggested. "Maybe you'll find something out that way. Ooh! You could be Sherlock Holmes!"

Penelope snorted. "Only one little problem, Dr. Watson: I could get in major trouble for snooping around like that!"

"Aren't you the least bit _curious_?"

Sighing, the wheels started cranking in Penelope's head. She sure as hell was curious about where all the agents had gone. Whole groups of people didn't just vanish. Her best friend's suggestion was sounding better by the minute. Maybe just a tiny look would be okay. She didn't need to do an extensive check into it, just a teeny tiny peek.

"Fine," she huffed. "Stay on the line. Let me look into it just a little bit."

"Ready when you are, Holmes," Ashely laughed.

Penelope couldn't suppress a smile. This felt just like old times with Ashley. "Hold your horses, Seaver," she said. "I'm getting to it." Quickly she pulled up the file of Aaron Hotchner. Scanning his credentials, she found exactly what she was looking for. Sure enough, his records showed a transfer from Quantico to New York. "Hmm. This _is_ interesting."

"Ooh! What is it?" It was clear from Ashley's voice that she was eager to hear all about it. Penelope didn't answer quick enough for her before she began to chitter on. "Penelope! Tell me what you found! I wanna know!"

"Calm thyself, Ash," Penelope giggled. "Anyway, what I just found is that Agent Hotchner -"

"That one is your boss, right?"

"Right," she confirmed. "Well, Strauss told me that Hotch transferred to the New York office. According to his file, her words are true. He's leading a team there."

She could practically hear Ashley's pout. "Garcie!" she whined. "That's not very interesting!"

"You're whining," Penelope stated, typing in to look up Rossi's file. His read that he was on leave indefinitely. "And I just looked up David Rossi's file too. Strauss wasn't lying about him either." Sighing, she leaned forward and put her elbows on her desk, blowing her bangs out of her face as she thought. "Well, it doesn't look like Strauss was lying."

It was Ashley's turn to heave a sigh. "I wish the pretty one was still there," she said, bummed. "That picture you sent me of him was _yummy_."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Sweetie," she said, "he's a complete asshole. Nothing would have ever happened between the two of us. Derek Morgan is the type of guy who dates skinny girls. I heard from others in the tech department that he's dating Jordan Todd, an agent from Counter Terrorism. She's the type."

"Oh," Ashley drawled sympathetically. "The wonderful 'type.'"

In high school Penelope and Ashley had established "The Type," a girl who was skinny, a bimbo, and self-absorbed. They applied it where they deemed it necessary.

"Yeah," she said. "But that's the least of my worries right now. Remember: no dating right at this time of my life. I'm just looking to keep myself afloat here. New job, no time for a life, gruesome crimes to solve. That sort of thing."

"Someday you'll find your Prince," Ashley said fondly. "And no amount of jobs or sickos will keep you from him."

Penelope hoped she was right.

XXXXX

After a long day of nothing, Penelope was heading towards the elevators when she heard the sounds of a woman commiserating. As she was getting into the elevator, so did the source of the sound. She groaned internally. They were seven floors up. This was going to be a long ride down.

"I can't believe him!" one of the women who had just entered the elevator said. Penelope recognized her as Jordan Todd. So now instead of moaning and groaning about it, she was interested. The "him" was likely Derek Morgan. Maybe she would say something about the strange disappearance of all the BAU agents.

Jordan's companion put a comforting hand on her arm. "Oh Jordan, it's going to be okay," she murmured.

"If he wanted to break up with me he didn't have to be a complete _dick_ about it!" Jordan wept. "All he told me was go to the new house I renovated. And the guy he had waiting there for me was...it was too terrible to even describe!" She sniffed. "Well I'm glad he transferred to Chicago! I don't ever want to see him again. He's some other poor girl's problem now."

Penelope sighed. So the heartbreaker Derek Morgan remained an ass. She didn't know why she was hoping for anything different.

Once the elevator hit the ground level, she exited behind the weeping Jordan and her friend and started for the door to the parking lot. She was headed to the bar. All she really wanted was a drink. Apparently there was one only a few blocks away and she was headed straight there.

When she walked through the door of Theo's Lounge, she sat herself down at the bar and flagged down the bartender. "Can I get a Jack and Coke?" she called. "Ooh, and throw in few cherries, please."

The bartender winked at her. "Comin' right up for you, sweetness," he said. As he was mixing the drink, he asked, "Are you new in town?"

Sighing, she nodded. "Is it that easy to tell?" she asked, putting her elbows on the bar.

He smirked. "A little," he said. "But you'll find your way."

"Oh, yeah?" she asked. "And how would you know that?" She smiled at him and batted her eyelashes. So she'd told Ashley she wasn't looking for a relationship. That didn't mean she wasn't looking for no strings attached sex or flirting. And the way the bartender was looking at her was telling her that if she really wanted to, she could absolutely have him.

He grabbed a coaster and a Sharpie and jotted something down on it. Then he put the drink down on the counter in front of her. She picked up the drink and took a sip before fingering the coaster. On it he'd written his phone number and name.

"So, _Freddie_," she said. "How about you show me around town?"

He grinned and gave her a wink. "I get off at two."

XXXXX

Derek refused to leave his room for the remainder of the weekend, but he came out finally on Tuesday night. He ended up down in the large kitchen where he found the rest of the team. The only ones missing were the boys, who had already gone to bed and Reid, who had exiled himself to the library, apparently looking for a way to return them all to normal.

The moment he entered the kitchen though, the whole room went quiet. He kept his eyes trained on the ground and raised a hand to wave awkwardly. "Hey guys," he said gruffly, sitting down next Hotch. "What's for dinner?" He grabbed one of the plates from the center of the table and looked into the pot that was next to it.

"I just made spaghetti," Will explained. "The boys wanted it."

As Derek picked at his food, he noticed the whole team was still silent, none of them meeting his eyes. The room began to feel suffocating and he couldn't stand the silence. Nor could he stand the awkward glances they kept throwing his direction. Was his whole life really just about his looks? Did no one find him intriguing except for the fact that he _looked_ good? The silence continued even as he was eating his food. No one said a single word. They just sipped their wine glasses or twirled noodles around on their forks.

Finally the quiet became too difficult for him to sit in and he rose from his seat. "I'm just going to take this up to my room," he said gruffly, grabbing a piece of garlic bread and throwing it on top of his plate. He refilled his glass of wine and took off for the kitchen door. "I'll see you guys later."

As he was leaving, he heard JJ sigh. "How are we going to cheer him up guys?" she asked. "I hate seeing him like this."

"We've got to find him a girl," Rossi sighed.

"That or Reid has to find something to break the spell," Hotch said tiredly.

Derek had to resist the urge to go in and shout at them all that finding a way to break this curse would be impossible. If even his best friends in the world couldn't find a way to bear his new appearance, how the hell would a girl be able to fall in love with him?


	7. An Unexpected Guest-Hotch's Wisdom

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**So I know you're all looking forward to Penelope getting to the mansion! Well, here's the beginning of her journey there :) Can't get her there all at once...where would the suspense be otherwise?**

**Thank you so much for your reviews and support with this story! I very much appreciate it :) I hope you all enjoy this next chapter in which we make a journey five months into the future where we meet a little Morgan self assessment and some drama for darling Penelope.**

**Enjoy and please READ AND REVIEW :)**

_Five Months Later_

"Freddie, I was wondering where your spare toothbrushes are?"

Penelope came out of Freddie's bedroom, wearing nothing but one of his button downs and a her hair piled on top of her head. Since their first meeting at the bar and eventual sex on the first night, she'd been spending time with Freddie a few nights a week. Their relationship consisted of booze and sex, nothing more and Penelope was just happy with that. They'd never even gone on dates. Ashley consistently thought she could do better and was sure to tell her so, but she didn't care at the moment.

All she was interested in was no strings attached sex.

"Check the hall closet," he called from the kitchen where he was brewing a pot of coffee.

When she came out of the bathroom, hair damp from a shower and smelling like pears and teeth clean, she headed to the kitchen dressed in her skirt and blouse from the day before. She grinned cheekily at Freddie. "Hey sweet thing," she purred, pecking him on the lips. "I'm headed out."

He smiled and swatted her bottom as she walked away. "I'll catch you later," he said.

"_Au revoir_!" she called as she made it out the door. She left Freddie's condo building and headed for her huge orange Cadillac she'd fondly named Esther, settling in the front seat and starting to drive off in the direction of her apartment that she'd finally moved completely into. Her walls had been painted purple. She had hung beads in place of doors. Her knick knacks were all over the place. It was wonderful. Ashley even came down to help finish getting it ready. She'd missed all the girl time they used to have together. The whole week she'd been there was the best week she'd had since she'd arrived in Quantico.

The job she'd originally thought would be boring had grown downright exhausted. A whole new BAU had been established and were working hard on all sorts of cases. She was busy, but happy. She was doing what she'd set out to do: help people.

When she reached home, she found someone waiting for her in front of her door that she didn't expect.

"_Brad_?" she gasped.

Her over six foot tall ex-boyfriend with coal blue eyes and wispy blonde hair grinned at her. Moving forward from his place of leaning against the wall, he said, "Hey Baby. It's been a long time."

She stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah," she said softly. "It has been a long time since I've seen you...in bed with a dental hygienist." She knew she should, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling the assault of hurt come all over again. The hurt from her heartbreak. The hurt from the betrayal.

His eyes closed and he exhaled deeply. "I know," he said. "And that's why I came across the country. I wanted to apologize to you, Baby. I love you, Penelope. You're the best thing that ever happened to me and I can't stand to be apart from you again."

Even after his declaration of undying, eternal love, Penelope knew it was fake. She knew he wasn't really in love with her. If he was, he wouldn't have ever treated her the way he had. He wouldn't have cheated on her. Laughing, she shook her head. "Brad," she said. "You broke my heart and you expect just a few words and a three thousand mile trip are going to make me take you back?"

He held up his hands to protest. "Pen -"

She shook her head vigorously. "No!" she said. "I didn't speak up enough about it in Seattle, so I'm going to do it now. I thought when we met that you were extremely shallow and I thought that as we dated it might change because I like to believe the best in people. But you consistently proved that you couldn't. When I found out you were cheating on me, it was all confirmed. You don't have the ability to care for me. I wanted to believe that there was more to you. You're a pig."

Brad just blinked at her. "Penelope," he said, turning on the charm. "Give me another chance. I'm begging you." He went towards her and dropped to his knees.

"Oh, please Brad," she snorted. "Get the hell up!"

He grinned up at her. "Please, Babe. One more chance. Let me take you out to dinner and show you - _prove_ to you! - how I've changed. I'll prove it."

Biting her lip, Penelope couldn't control her nature. It wasn't like her to throw someone aside if they were begging for a chance to redeem themselves. Sighing, she nodded. "Fine," she said grudgingly. "Pick me up at eight. But don't get your hopes up."

He took both her hands and kissed them fervently. "You won't be sorry," he said confidently. "I promise you."

Somehow Penelope wasn't so sure.

XXXXX

"The roses are looking great, Hotch," Derek said, his hands in his pockets.

Currently he was walking around in the palatial surrounding grounds of the mansion. He'd taken to dressing himself in nothing but sweat pants and a zip up hoodie with the hood up to cover his face most of the time. Most of his days he spent his time outside in the gardens and the wooded trails where no one else was. It was fall now, five months into his curse. He knew he needed to find a girl to love him, but so far he hadn't gotten the courage to find his way out of his seclusion. Even his team couldn't bring him any help. There was no teasing of Reid, no laughing and joking with Rossi and Prentiss.

He was a recluse, just like Strauss said he would become.

Hotch gave him a small smile. "I don't know how these are staying alive," he said. "They should be dead."

Derek grunted. "Yeah, well we shouldn't look like this," he snapped. "Why shouldn't a load of white roses stay alive." He groaned and sat down on a stone bench. "I'm sorry, man. I shouldn't be getting all up in your face."

Hotch sighed and sat down next to him. "You know, I understand why you're so upset," he said. "I'd hate being in this situation. Being pressured to fall in love? That doesn't sound so good. I know after Haley was killed I thought I had to find someone else, but something like that can't be forced. You can't just force yourself to find love." He paused for a moment.

"I'm sensing a 'but' here," Derek said sullenly.

"I think you _can_ find it," he murmured. "You can find someone to love you and someone you can love with all your heart. You just have to try."

A moment of silence covered the chilly grounds, the white roses, and the two men. It was almost serene as they looked up at the sunny, cloudless sky. That one moment of Hotch's confidence and faith in him actually made him feel better than he had.

And so he made his decision to get out and about. He was going to emerge for the first time in five months. He was going to try his luck.

He'd go into the city and try and find a girl. One who would hopefully find a way to look past his face.

But not before a run. Running would clear his head and give him a chance to think about himself. There were things he needed reevaluate. For sure. His boss was entirely right. He could find someone. If he looked back at himself, changed his ways from womanizing and nonchalant behavior, he could do it.

And Hotch believed he could find love.

It was time to take a shot.

Rising from his place on the bench, he clapped Hotch on the back and said, "I'm going for a run, man. Thanks for the pep talk." And then he took off onto one of the woods trails, disappearing into the trees.

XXXXX

"How's that online profile coming?" Emily demanded, rushing into the library. "Have we made Morgan sound as studly as possible?"

Rossi nodded from his laptop. "Yes," he said, raising a thumb in the air. "We are all set to launch Derek Morgan's online dating profile. No picture of course, but then again we can't really do that. Absolutely no one would request."

Emily punched his arm and sat down next to him. "Oh, come on," she muttered. Grabbing the computer from his grasp, she began to observe his handy work. Her mouth fell open. "No, no, _no_!" Instantly her nimble fingers started flying clumsily across the keyboard.

"What?" Rossi demanded. "What's wrong?"

"You can't say that he enjoys _long walks on the beach_," she snapped. "That's just stupid! Cliche, definitely not Morgan. The man rides a frickin' motorcycle, he doesn't drive a patty wagon!" She snorted. "Pfft."

Rossi glared at her. "Jesus, Prentiss," he grumbled. "Blunt much?"

"You got a better idea? Seriously? Do you think that putting long walks on the beach and..." She paused to read more before groaning audibly. "Oh my _God_! Rossi! You idiot! You can't put _wine tasting_ on here! Another cliche! No wonder you have three divorces to your name!"

"I happen to be a very classy guy," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Reid looked up from the book he was reading and smirked at them. "Calm thyselves, children," he said, flipping a page.

"Reid's right," JJ said, entering the library with both the boys trailing after her. "You two have been at each other's throats for five months. Give it a rest." She led the boys to the TV in one of the smaller studies and set them up playing with the Wii. "Both of you boys, play the game, okay?"

"Yep!" they both cried excitedly.

"Good," JJ said, reemerging into the main part of the grand library. She sat down with the rest of the occupants of the library. "So, how's it going? Anything on the curse in the books?"

Reid sighed and set the book down on the table in front of him. "There's nothing," he said. "Nothing about a curse like this except in fairy tales. And they all have the same way of breaking the spell: undying, eternal, true love. And Morgan's been cooped up in his room or out running in the woods. Unless he finds a wood nymph, there's no possible way this curse is getting broken."

She groaned and Emily couldn't suppress a giggle. JJ turned her attention to her and glared. "What?" she asked. "What's so funny?"

"You just sound so funny when you groan with that new accent," she laughed.

JJ rolled her eyes. "Not so new," she grumbled. "I've sounded like this for five months now." She looked into the room where her son and Jack were playing like there was nothing wrong. The both of them had adjusted relatively quickly to their new appearances and the appearances of the rest of the team. She sighed forlornly. Was her child going to grow up for the rest of his life looking like someone he wasn't? Was the rest of team going to be unlike themselves for the rest of their lives?

Reid was completely correct; with Morgan spending all his time locked away from the rest of the world, spending his days in the gardens and woods, it seemed highly likely they would all remain someone they weren't.

For the rest of their lives.

XXXXX

Instead of his usual sweatpants, Morgan traded them in for a pair of jeans. He kept the hoodie so he could keep his face hidden, but until he reached the city, his helmet would keep his face hidden. As he slid it on and started his Ducati, he fired the engine up and sped down the long winding driveway of the mansion and onto the road, eager to find himself back in the city. He hadn't felt this alive since he'd been cursed.

As he drove at least fifteen miles over the speed limit towards the city, he relished the feel of the wind against his body, feeling like he was flying across the asphalt. Hotch's short, albeit helpful pep talk had inspired him to get off his ass and take a look around. There had to be some woman out there who could see him for something more than just the beast he had become.

A woman he could fall just as much in love with as she might with him.

XXXXX

"So he just showed up?" Ashley squeaked over Skype as Penelope was getting ready for her date. She had dialed up her best friend to get advice on what she should wear and so far the most Ashley had managed to get out was how shocked she was that Brad had showed up to Penelope's door. "He even got down on his knees?"

Penelope was sliding herself into a slinky black dress and she said, "I'm just as surprised as you are, sweetie."

"Why are you giving that substantial douche bag a second chance, Penelope?" Ashley asked, her tone turning more serious. "He doesn't deserve you. You deserve the best in the world and Brad is just...scum on the bottom of a fucking boat. He's a shit head. If he hurts my best friend again I swear to God I'll kill him."

Looking down at the computer, Penelope smiled at her compassionate best friend. "Oh, thanks, Ash," she said. "I just have to give him a second chance though. He deserves it. _Everyone_ deserves a second chance."

"You have a heart of gold," Ashley said. "I would never be able to do that. I wish I had your capacity to believe in someone and that there's more to them."

A ring on the doorbell caused her to look up towards the door. She looked at Ashley and said, "I've got a date to get to!"

Ashley smiled softly. "Go get him girl," she said. "I hope he really has changed."

"So do I," Penelope murmured.

**Can anyone guess who Brad is supposed to be? ;)**

**As always, please read and review! I love getting feedback from you guys :)**


	8. A Night In DC

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of this brilliant TV show. If I did I would be rich and living in a house with more coffee beans and books and comfy sweaters than I would need.**

**Thank you beautiful people for the reviews! You really know how to make a girl smile :) And I can use all the happy I can get seeing as my job sucks and I hate it. All my free time is going into this story and into reading "Divergent" (which is a fabulous dystopian book and you all should try it!) Speaking of dystopian stories, if there are any Hunger Games fans out there reading this, I started a new crossover for Criminal Minds/Hunger Games that you may enjoy called "On the Edge."**

**PS - If any of you are wondering if we're going to hear from Fran at all in this story, the answer is yes, at some point we will :)**

Derek stopped his bike on the side of a secluded road and took off his helmet, hurriedly pulling his hood up to hide his face before anyone could catch a glimpse of it. He shoved his helmet onto the front of his bike, not caring if someone took it. He had his hoodie. He could hide his face with it.

The sun was just going down and casting the sky with an orange, pink light. Cool wind blew through the streets, causing piles of dead leaves to fly in tornado shaped patterns through the air. He made sure to push his face down when he came across paths with anyone. He took his time meandering through the streets. When he entered an area with too many people, he sat down on a bench and waited for the sun to go down more and the foot traffic to die down. While he was waiting for the sun to set and the moon to rise, Derek took the opportunity to study people as they walked by him. No one even bothered to glance his way. They were so wrapped up in their own lives that they payed no mind to a bum on the bench.

And that's how Derek truly felt with his hood up and his face hidden. He didn't see himself as anything that would stand out. Anything that _could_ stand out. For once in his life he was glad to blend in and stay invisible.

As soon as he decided to rise and move on, he started walking west. But as he did, his hood prevented him from seeing a couple walking in the same direction as him and he rammed into them.

"Hey!" the man of the couple bellowed. "Buddy, you just ran into my wife!"

Derek kept his head trained down and mumbled, "Sorry.''

He tried to walk away, but the man grabbed him by the shoulder. "Listen, you bum!" he hollered. "You don't run into my wife and mumble an apology! Look her in the eye!" The man was under six feet tall, but he was as big as a body builder and was bald. Derek pushed against the man and sent him stumbling backwards, but this time his hood was grabbed down and his hideous face was bared to the couple he'd run into. The man's face fell, and his wife next to him gasped.

Shame washed over Derek and he took off at a sprint, pulling his hood up over his face once again. As he ran and his lungs burned, he began to wish he had brought his helmet with him. He only slowed down when he reached the National Mall and he saw the lights shining off the Capitol Building. There was little activity going on and once again no one was looking at him, not even glancing in his direction. He felt he could breathe a sigh of relief and then he went from a slow jog to a walk.

"Hello Agent Morgan."

Derek nearly jumped ten feet in the air at the sound of his name. Who the hell would recognize him _here_? He turned around to see who had said his name and immediately he felt the desire to spit fury.

Erin Strauss.

The Witch.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he demanded.

"I've been following you since you came into town," she said simply, moving to sit on a bench nearby.

He scowled. "What, are you watching me through a crystal ball now?"

She smirked. "Something of the sort," she said. She sighed and tilted her head to the side to study him. "You look tired, Morgan."

"Oh!" he said angrily. "I look tired? I don't know how the fuck that's possible. I've spent the last five months cooped up in a mansion in the middle of the woods, unable to go anywhere because of my fucking face!" He rubbed his face.

"You can go somewhere," she said simply. "You can go anywhere in the world you want. The fact that you choose not to is your fault, not mine."

"I'm a fucking pariah!" he shouted. He was now attracting several glances, but he ignored them. He was too angry. "I can't go anywhere looking like this." Pausing, he shook his head and tried to recompose himself. "I'm sorry," he said, forcing sincerity into his voice. Sitting down next to her, he looked her in the eye, desperation oozing from every inch of his body. "Please, Strauss," he said. "I need you to change me back. I've learned my lesson. Just change me back. I'm begging you."

She didn't even have to think before she responded. "Agent Morgan, you haven't learned your lesson," she said softly. "You haven't stopped just considering yourself. Find someone to love you for _you_. I'm sure if I changed you back now, you would go right back to being just who you are. You have to change yourself. Find someone who can see past everything and can see a good man." She shook her head. "So no...I won't turn you back. You need this."

"I need my life back!" he growled. "Not a lesson!"

"You needed a reality check," she said. "This gives it to you. You need to learn that you can't depend on your pretty face to get by. That's how you made your way through life. You may be smart enough to know how to use your looks, but that how's you climbed your way to the top. And let's not forget the way you treat women. It's horrendous."

He glared at her. "So because I can't keep a girlfriend, you think I need to find 'true love' to change?" he demanded. He used air quotes to surround the words "true love."

"Just because you don't believe in it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist," she said cryptically.

He jumped to his feet and was about to say more, but as he turned around to snap a reply, he found the bench empty and Strauss gone. "Seriously?" he grumbled. "God, I hate that woman." Shoving his hands in his pockets, he started walking again, circling back around to head towards his motorcycle. His conversation with Strauss had left him with a sour taste in her mouth and he was just ready to go home.

It was clear that nothing was going to happen for him that night.

Or any night.

He was at least an hour walk from where he was parked and he decided to take a different route back, going down residential streets instead. As he was going along, he began to hear struggling.

"Brad, I said no!" a panicked woman snapped.

"Oh, come on, Babe," a suave and laid back voice said. "You know you want this."

"_No_!" the woman screamed. "Let me go!"

Immediately Derek jumped into action and started towards the sounds of the struggle. He sprinted in the direction of the noise. The yelling continued.

"Brad, I said no and I mean it!" The sound of someone getting smacked, likely in the face, could be heard.

Derek peeked around a corner into an alley between two different apartment buildings and looked into alley way where he could see two people arguing under a street light. A blonde woman with his back to her and a tall, handsome man with a smug smile on his face were standing beneath the light. By the looks of it the woman had just struck the man.

"Oh, come on Babe," he said. "Be honest with me. You know you want this." He grabbed hold of her and pulled her towards his body.

"Let go of me!" she cried.

The moment the woman was thrust up against the wall of the building, Derek sprang into action and shot forward.

XXXXX

"Aren't you glad you decided to come out with me tonight?" Brad asked as he walked next to Penelope down the street back towards her apartment building. He glanced over at her and grinned cheekily. "I really missed you, Penelope."

Penelope glanced over at Brad and blushed. The night with him had actually been nice. He'd been attentive, sweet. They'd had a bottle of wine, a delicious dinner at a restaurant a mere few blocks away from her apartment. And now he was walking her home. It had been wonderful.

She bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I guess I _am_ pretty glad I came with you. I had a nice time."

As they walked along the next few moments in silence, the only sound the clicking of her red high heels. He reached out to take her hand and she pulled her hand back from his. She may have had a nice time, but that didn't mean she was jumping back up and forgiving him straight away.

He sighed next to her. "Penelope," he said. "I want you to know that I'm going to try. I'm going to _keep_ trying to prove myself to you. But you need to give me a chance. You have to let me in."

Penelope stopped in front of the alley between her building and the next door one. She stared at him incredulously. "Brad," she said, tilting her head to the side. "Are you serious?"

He turned to look at her in confusion. "What?" he said. "Did I say something?"

"Brad, you can't blame this on me," she said. "You can't tell me that I have to give you a chance. You have to give me time to trust you again. Don't just expect me to forgive you because we had a nice time."

He looked down at the ground and shook his head, laughing slightly. "Penelope, I remember when we were dating." His eyes drifted up and met hers and he smirked. "You were a wildcat in bed and you couldn't get enough of me. You're trying to tell me you _don't_ want to sleep with me?"

She backed up from him. "What?" she cried. "Are you nuts? I never wanted to sleep with you tonight! I wanted to go out and give you another chance." She shook her head and started down the alley. "I think you need to go now." But as she walked away, she was grabbed from behind. She gasped. "What are you doing?" She wanted to say more, but he thrust his lips over hers and kissed her. Panic set in and she pushed against him. When he finally released her, she wiped her mouth and said shakily, "Brad, stay the hell away from me!"

He laughed. "Oh give me a break, Penelope," he said. "Why did you even come out with me tonight?"

Wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to close herself off from him, she cried, "I was trying to give you a second chance! I wasn't trying to jump into bed with you!"

"Pfft...with that dress on? No way." He grinned and went towards her again, putting his hands on her hips. "Let's do this. Against a building wall would be a new one for us."

She backed away further. "Brad, I said no!"

"Oh, come on, Babe," he said with a smug smirk. "You know you want this."

"_No_!" she screamed as he made yet another grab for her. He latched onto her hips. "Let me go!" Now she was panicking. She was scared to death of Brad right then. His body language had turned threatening and she knew if she didn't bolt soon he would hurt her. "Brad, I said no, and I mean it!" He reached towards her again and she slapped him roughly.

A smirk covered his face and he said, "Oh, come on, Babe. Be honest with me. You know you want this."

"Let go of me!" she screamed frantically as he thrust her up against the wall.

But as she screamed, another body slammed into both her and Brad. She went flying backwards onto the cement and before the back of her head hit the ground she saw a man with a hood throwing Brad up against the wall.

XXXXX

Derek threw the man - Brad, as he'd been called - up against the wall, the woman flying backwards and out of the way. He landed a punch to Brad's gut and the other man buckled over, groaning in the process. When he stood up straighter, he raised his arm to throw a punch, only to receive a sock to the jaw from Derek. He looked up again and wiped the blood from his lip.

"Who are you, tough guy?" he asked smugly.

"Not someone you want to fuck with," Derek returned, keeping his face down.

Brad launched himself at Derek and tackled him to the ground. As they fell, Derek's hood fell off and Brad immediately balked at the sight of him. Derek saw this as an advantage. He got one more hit in before the other man jumped up in terror and ran from the alley. Derek wanted to chase after him and beat the shit out of the other man, but then he remembered the unconscious woman on the ground behind him. Turning to her, he went to her side and knelt next to her, moving her blonde hair from her face.

He was shocked when he realized who it was.

It was Penelope Garcia, the technical analyst the team had had for one case. The one woman he'd called beautiful.

For a moment he was just in shock. He couldn't believe he was coming face to face with her again. Touching her hair gently, he moved it back from her face and looked at her more closely. There was only one word that came to his mind when he looked at her fragile face.

_Beautiful_.

Gently, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the front of the building and located the number of her apartment on the mailboxes. He carried her up the stairs to the third floor and found her apartment, which he found was unlocked. Her apartment was dark, but he managed to see a couch and he laid her gently on it, pulling a blanket up over her. He didn't know what was going on with him at that moment. His heart started to race and his mind started thinking tender thoughts. He couldn't believe any man would want to hurt her. Shaking his head, he rose from his position of kneeling by her side.

Glancing at her one last time, he shuffled his feet awkwardly and made his way out of the apartment, making sure to lock the door on the way out.


	9. An Interesting Start

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Thank you all sooooo much for the reviews! I'm glad you liked the "sort of" reunion from the last chapter. This one is the one you all have been waiting for: Penelope on her way to the mansion!**

**A quick congratulations to BREGLEEK1993 and Annerber03 for guessing that Brad is supposed to be Gaston!**

Penelope woke up with a pounding head at four o'clock in the morning and looked around. How the hell had she made it to her apartment? The last thing she remembered was Brad trying to force himself on her and a man in a hood jumping in the way and saving her. But she had no recollection of walking up to her apartment and tucking herself in on the couch.

Had the man who'd rescued her done this?

Had he pulled covers up and tucked her in, like he'd actually cared for her?

Sitting up, she rubbed her forehead and cursed. Her head was _really _hurt. She stood up and started for the kitchen, knowing she needed Tylenol. At the moment she was debating whether or not to call the cops. Picking up her phone, she gazed at the keypad, but was too scared. She wondered whether or not to call her new team leader, Dalton Gordon and ask him what to do, but she wasn't close to any of the members of her team. Her mind was racing about what to do and she felt her palms begin to sweat.

Ashley. She needed to call Ashley.

Hurriedly she dialed her best friend's number and she bit her lip as she listened to the phone ringing. "Come on, come on," she said frantically. "Pick up, Ash!"

"Hello?" Ashely mumbled sleepily on the other end of the line. For a few seconds, Penelope was silent while she was on the line. "Penelope? Sweetie, are you there?"

Taking a deep breath, Penelope said, "Yeah, I'm here."

"Garcie, what's wrong?" Ashley asked, instantly concerned. "What happened? Are you okay?" Tears filled her eyes. She couldn't believe she trusted Brad. He had taken her out, had made her think he had changed, then he had tried to assault her. Fear was settling in her gut and pooling there, making her shake with nerves. Penelope wiped her tears from her face and sniffled. "Penelope, you're really worrying me. Sweetie, you've gotta tell me what's wrong."

Penelope slid down to the floor and leaned back against her refrigerator. "Ashley, he - he tried to -"

"Oh my God!" Ashley cried angrily. "Penelope, did he hurt you? Did you call the police?"

"No, no!" she said. "He _tried_ to, but someone stopped him."

Ashley audibly growled. "I'm going to kill him," she said. On the other side of the line it sounded like she was rummaging around. "Penelope, I'm getting up right now. I'm driving down. I'll be there in a few hours."

Penelope nodded and inhaled deeply. "Okay," she said. Then she hung up the phone and set it on the floor gently. She buried her face against her knees and let her tears fall, scared to death. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, her phone vibrated with an incoming text. Thinking it might be Ashley letting her know she was on the road, she picked it up.

Her blood ran cold when she saw who it was actually from.

**Say anything to the police and I kill you...**

XXXXX

"Hotch!"

Derek started knocking frantically on the door of Hotch's door, despite the early hour of five o'clock. He heard the shuffling behind the door and awaited anxiously for the door to open. Since he'd found Penelope Garcia and saved her from being assaulted by her date, his mind had been racing and he was running on adrenaline. He couldn't get her out of his mind. She had looked so fragile, but at the same time he couldn't help but see her as strong too. He didn't know where that sensation had come from, but when he looked at her all he thought was that she was a fighter. And he had to tell someone. Hotch seemed like the most logical choice.

When the door opened to reveal Hotch, his face tired and an irritated expression on his face, he said grudgingly, "Do you know what time it is?"

Derek ignored him and asked, "Can I come in? I have something to tell you."

Hotch groaned and looked at his watch. "How about this? Make a pot of coffee and meet me in the library in ten minutes."

"Agreed."

Ten minutes later with a pot of coffee in hand and two mugs in the other, Hotch and Derek met in the library and sat down in two of the rich armchairs. Hotch took a sip of coffee and said, "Alright. What's up?"

"I found someone last night," Derek said simply.

Hotch's eyes went wide. He took another sip of coffee. "You found someone?" he repeated in question. "Like, a flesh and blood woman?"

Derek scowled. "Yeah, a real flesh and blood woman," he said sarcastically. He saw Hotch's silence and rolled his eyes. "What? Did you expect I found a...doll, or something?"

"No," Hotch said simply. "I was just...clarifying." He tok a longer gulp of coffee and balanced his chin on his hand. "So...tell me about her."

"Well, I had a run-in with a couple who thought I was a bum and then my hood fell off and I took off. At the Mall I ran into Strauss and -"

Hotch's eyes went wider and he held up his hands. "Wait! You saw Strauss? What did she say?"

"She followed me as soon as I got into town - I don't know, she's got some sort of, tracking device on me or something - and I asked her to reverse the curse and she told me no. Obviously I got pissed off, but that's not the point right now. I have to tell you about this girl. You're never going to believe who I found."

Hotch raised a brow. Even though his face and appearance were completely different, his expression was exactly identical to when he was himself. It was laughable at how similar they were. "Well? Who was it?"

"Penelope Garcia."

Silence covered the space between them. Hotch seemed thoughtful for a moment and he sipped his coffee with a contemplative expression on his face. Derek was patient with him, but after a few moments he was about ready to crack and holler at him to say something. As he opened his mouth to say something, Hotch finally spoke. "Penelope? Our technical analyst?" Derek nodded. Hotch stared at his coffee for a moment before asking the most important question: "How did she react to you? Did you tell her it was you?"

"See, this is where it's difficult," Derek said cautiously. "She didn't...actually...see me."

Both Hotch's brows raised this time. "What does that mean?"

Derek gulped. "She was on a date with someone and he...he tried to rape her in the alley by her apartment building. He knocked her unconscious -" He stopped mid speech and corrected himself. "I take it back. It was probably _me_ who knocked her unconscious when I tackled him off of her."

"Well that's an interesting start," Hotch interjected with a smirk.

Glaring at him, Derek continued. "My hood fell off again and he got spooked and ran. I carried her to her apartment and tucked her in."

Hotch was silent yet again. He finished off his cup of coffee and set it on the table in front of him. He folded his hands in front of him. "Derek, I'm going to be completely honest, I think that is the lamest first date ever. I can't lie about it."

It couldn't be denied. Derek sighed. It was true. It was the lamest "date" ever. Penelope Garcia was on his mind though. Her beautiful hair, her fragile features, her lush body. And what was even more surprising was the overwhelming desire to protect her from all harm. And that was something he'd never felt before. For anyone. He sighed. "Hotch, what should I do?" he asked.

"I think you need to try and talk to her," he said. "You saved her life. I'm not saying to tell her that right away, but I'm saying that you should approach her. No ski mask though. That would just freak her out." He smiled one of his small, rare smile. "You can do this, Derek. Even from being with that girl for only a few days, I get the impression that she is a kind, understanding woman. She won't run."

Derek smiled. "I'm going to try this," he said. "I'll start with red roses and chocolate."

Hotch looked at him skeptically. Somehow he didn't think Penelope Garcia was that type of girl, the type for cliche flowers and heart shaped boxes of shitty chocolate.

This would be an interesting ride.

XXXXX

Ashley arrived early in the morning at Penelope's apartment and threw her arms around her best friend. Penelope wept into Ashley's shoulder and her friend rubbed her back gently. "Hey," she said, comfortingly. "I've got you. It's going to be okay. We're going to get through this."

"He tried to rape me!" Penelope cried.

Leading her towards the couch, Ashley motioned for her to sit down and held her tightly as she laid her head on her lap. "I know, sweetie," she said. She brushed her hair back. "We're going to keep you safe."

"He sent me text saying if I went to the police he would kill me," she said. "We can't tell anyone. I think he's serious!"

"Sweetie, he can't hurt you. I won't let him."

Penelope looked up at her and her lower lip trembled. She had never been so scared in her life. Her gut felt rotten, her nerves were shot, and she was on edge. "I'm scared, Ash," she whispered.

"I know you are," Ashley said, tears filling her eyes as well.

XXXXX

Derek started the engine to his car that he had not driven in months. He was going to take Hotch's wisdom and try to talk to Penelope. Hopefully it would go well. His face and body were so hideous that she was would probably be shocked, but he was confident Hotch was right; she wouldn't judge him based completely on looks.

He was hopeful.

The whole drive up he was nervous as hell. He didn't know why. His usual type of girl was most certainly not a brightly dressed, glasses wearing, technical analyst. This was going to be a whole new experience. One he was eager to embark on.

He arrived in DC around six o'clock in the evening. Finding his way back was difficult, but he eventually found his way. He parked the car and turned the engine off, watching the quiet street. Only a few people walked down the sidewalk and when they passed by him, he made sure to keep his face trained down. No one was going to see his face if he could help it. For ten minutes he sat in complete silence, watching as the sun disappeared and the street lights started to turn on. It was completely peaceful and he had a hopeful feeling about how the night was going. Maybe this _would_ go smoothly.

But the moment was broken when an unwelcome figure entered the picture. Derek wouldn't forget his face if his life depended on it. It was the Brad from the night before. Instantly Derek became furious and opened the car door. He was going to have to catch up to him before he could hurt Penelope.

He would kill him if he had to.

XXXXX

Penelope was setting up a makeshift bed on her couch for Ashley to sleep on for the night. She'd been eternally grateful for her friend's dedication and support for her. "You have no idea how much I appreciate you coming down here," she told Ashley, pulling her into a tight hug. "You're the best friend anyone could ever have."

Ashley gave her a comforting smile. "You would do the same thing for me," she said. "Hell, you've already done that for me. Remember Bobby? No one was kind to me after those pictures circulated in high school."

"Really, though," Penelope urged. "You're the best -"

But she was cut off by loud bang. The door burst open, shuddering at the hinges as someone kicked it open. Brad came storming in and Ashley placed herself between the two of them. Glaring viciously, she hissed, "Stay away from her. We will call the cops!"

Brad smirked. "No, you won't," he snickered. "I just decided to come and kill you anyway. You may have been a fucking good lay, Penelope, but you are a fucking nuisance too."

"You're a fucking monster," Ashley snarled.

Brad launched himself forward and thrust Ashley out of the way, knocking her into the coffee table. She groaned in pain and rubbed her forehead. Penelope felt a hot flash of anger course through her and she charged towards him. "You son of a bitch!" she cried. "Don't touch her!"

He smacked her easily aside, but didn't go over towards Ashley. She wasn't his target, after all. He towered over Penelope as she tried to rise from the ground. "Sweetheart, trust me..." he cooed.

As he leaned down to grab her by the hair, someone spoke. "I think trusting you would be a stupid move..._sweetheart_."

Brad turned around, startled and Penelope looked around him to see who had spoken. It was a deep, baritone voice and for some reason she couldn't help but think she'd heard it somewhere before. She just couldn't place where exactly, though. Despite knowing the sound of his voice, his face was hidden, partly due to the dim lighting in her apartment, partly due to the fact that a hood was covering his face. The feature that was distinguishable about him was his broad shoulders. He wasn't exactly huge, but it was clear that he was strong and capable of taking on someone like Brad.

Brad snickered. "You came back to save her _again_, tough guy? What are you, stalking her or something?"

Penelope balked. This man was the one who had saved her last night? This man was the one who had tucked her in carefully? She couldn't believe he was back again. It was as if he was her guardian angel.

"I just so happened to be in the area and I saw you and thought I'd drop by to make sure you weren't causing any trouble," the stranger said. "Imagine how unsurprised I was when you _didn't_ prove me wrong."

"What? You gonna fight me again?"

"What? You gonna run away like a pussy again?" the stranger returned evenly.

"If you weren't so goddamned ugly, I might not have gotten spooked and would've stuck around to kick your ass," Brad snapped shakily. It was clear he wasn't taking too kindly to being called a coward.

"Sorry, buddy," he said. "You can't kick my ass."

Then he came forward and socked Brad in the face, causing him to stumble backwards. He straightened up again and glared at him. "You really -" But he didn't get a chance to finish. The stranger punched him once again and he fell backwards, knocked out.

Ashley and Penelope stared at their savior with wide, shocked eyes. They still couldn't see his face. He turned and looked at them. "Come with me," he ordered, motioning for them to follow him out the door. The two women balked and stared at each other, wondering if they should go with him. "Now!" he added, seeing their hesitation.

Silently, both of them jumped to their feet and trailed after him, having to jog because his stride was so long. They followed him to a black SUV and he motioned for them to hop in. Penelope nodded to the back for Ashley to get in and she hopped into the passenger seat. If this guy was dangerous, she wanted to be sure that Ashley was in the back and could jump out if it was possible. As the man started the car, Penelope realized she still hadn't seen his face.

"Where are you taking us?" she demanded as he pulled away from the curb and sped down the street. He didn't respond immediately and she snapped, "Tell me where you're taking us!"

"Somewhere safe," he rumbled, keeping his eyes trained on the road and driving faster, taking the three of them into the unknown.


	10. Arrival

**Disclaimer: I am not the proud owner of Criminal Minds. I just watch it on the telly.**

**Thank you for the reviews everyone :) You are shining stars! A quick note I need to make is that during Penelope's point of view, each of the team will have their names that Strauss gave them (i.e. JJ will be Natasha) and when I get to Derek's point of view they will have their real names. In addition, I wanted to give you the URL to a house that is (in my mind at least) what the exterior of the mansion the team is living in looks like:**

** . **

**Here's the ninth chapter! I hope you all enjoy this installment :)**

Derek reached the highway with Penelope and her friend, neither of them having spoken since asking where he was taking them. The entire time, he made sure to keep his face hidden so that neither of them could see what he looked like. He was running on adrenaline, his blood roaring in his ears. The fight with Brad felt better than a fight should have. He was glad to have the opportunity to take out his anger and aggression and throw it on someone who deserved it. After months of being able to punch nothing but a punching bag hanging from a gym rafter, hitting actual skin and bone two days in a row was a treat. It felt like fighting an unsub again.

"Why have we gotten on the highway?" Penelope demanded angrily. "Where the hell are you taking us?"

"I told you," he snapped. "Somewhere safe."

She huffed beside him and he rolled his eyes. "Somewhere safe," she repeated sarcastically. "Real specific, that."

"Why don't you just stay quiet?" he said gruffly, switching on his turn signal to change lanes.

"Excuse me?" she said, appalled. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

He snorted, really wanting to look over and scowl at her. Instead he kept his face trained on the road, keeping his face hidden. The way the conversation was going, it was probably better that his face stayed out of the way. "The guy who just saved your life," he said.

She remained quiet.

The rest of the drive went on in silence. They were now driving through a wooded area, the trees all red, yellow, and brown from the autumn air. Derek turned into the driveway of his home and Penelope spoke again. "Where are we?"

"Home," he said simply.

XXXXX

The moment the word _home_ left the stranger's mouth, Penelope's eyes widened. She turned around and met Ashley's eyes. Both of them were puzzled. Where the hell had they let themselves be taken? The car was speeding up a long, tree lined driveway and the moment they pulled into a large courtyard, Penelope gasped. Ashley behind her started shaking her shoulder and said, "Penelope, look!"

"I know," Penelope said.

The two of them were gaping at the house they had just arrived at. It was a massive mansion with graying stone and a large arched entrance way that led to another, smaller courtyard. There were large paned windows that were lit up and stone statues of gargoyles surrounding the edges on the roof. It was the most beautiful home Penelope had ever seen.

"_T - this_ is where you live?" she stammered.

The hood nodded and he said, "Yeah. Home sweet home, it is. I hope it satisfies you."

She arched a brow. What would he want his house to satisfy her? Why did it matter? As he opened his door and exited, she stayed behind with Ashley. Neither of them had seen his face yet, something that she found very odd.

What was he hiding?

"I want to see this house!" Ashley said excitedly, reaching for the knob of the car door. A huge grin was lit up on her face.

Penelope gaped at her best friend. "You _what_?" she exclaimed. "Ash, this guy could be a serial murderer! We can't just go trusting him out of the blue!"

It was Ashley's turn to gape. "Sweetie, he just saved you from Brad," she said. "And from the banter going on between the two of them, it sounds like he was the one who saved you the night before too." She smiled sweetly. "He tucked you in! Isn't that just the sweetest thing you've ever heard of?"

"That's not the point!" she said. Frowning, she added, "And you don't find that a little odd? He saved me not once, but twice! Doesn't that sort of sound like stalking to you? I mean, yeah...I'm grateful for him being there, but that's a little strange. Definitely not a coincidence."

Ashley's fingers wrapped around the door knob and she opened it. "Penelope, I think you should try talking to him. He did save your life after all." She pouted her lip teasingly and put her hands in a begging position. "Please? At least check out the house?"

Penelope was silent for another moment and finally sighed dramatically. "Ugh, fine," she huffed. She opened the door to the passenger side and followed her giddy friend towards the beautiful old house. They entered through the archway into the courtyard where they followed the stone path towards a large wooden door. Walking up the porch, they each poked their heads into the house before stepping in. Despite the more antique and aged exterior, the interior of the house was more modern and comforting. It was beautiful.

The atrium was a deep crimson color with mahogany wood paneling and there was a painting of a fierce gargoyle hanging on the wall straight ahead of the door. Penelope tilted her head to the side to study it while Ashley closed the door behind them. She joined Penelope in studying the painting.

"Oh, yeah," Penelope drawled sarcastically. "This was totally worth looking at."

Ashley shot her a scowl and motioned for her to follow through the doors that led to a grand hallway. A grand staircase led to an upper level of the house and the floor was covered in glittering mahogany wood, topped with a plush red carpet that made a path for walking. The whole main hall was like that of a castle, filled with large windows that overlooked the woods on one side and the courtyard on the other. In the spaces between the windows were cast iron candelabras with lit flames and on the ceiling, providing a dim light, were several small iron chandeliers with electric light.

It was a breathtaking sight.

"Where the hell are we?" Penelope breathed aloud, her voice echoing through the hall.

"Not in Kansas anymore, that's for sure," Ashley responded.

XXXXX

"Prentiss, you have had enough of my scotch for the evening!" Rossi thundered, grabbing the bottle of expensive alcohol from Prentiss' small hands before she could pour herself another glass.

She glared up at him from her seat at the kitchen counter. "Give it back," she growled. "I'm having a bad day."

"We're _all_ having bad days!" he grumbled, putting the bottle back in the cabinet specifically sanctioned for liquor. It was the top cabinet above the fridge so the younger children weren't able to reach it. "God, I can't believe Morgan isn't picking up his cell phone! I wanted to tell him to pick up more of this stuff. We're now behind on our stock, thanks to Ms. Emily Prentiss there."

"Settle down," Reid grumbled, taking plates from Will to set out on the table. "You'll survive a little while longer without your stock of impressive alcohol. What we _really_ need is for Morgan to find a girlfriend. So far I haven't found anything in the library about ways to break a powerful spell like this without having a declaration of true love spoken. Granted, I'm not super far through this collection - there are a great deal of books in there - but it won't matter in a little while."

He didn't finish. They all knew what he was going to say. If Morgan didn't start falling in love with someone and someone didn't start falling in love with him, no amount of research in the world could save them from the Curse.

JJ was the one who broke the silence.

"Can someone go get the boys?" she asked after all the silverware had been set out.

"Alright everyone!" Derek cried, bursting into the kitchen as everyone was getting sat down for dinner, interrupting Hotch from going to fetch Henry and Jack from wherever they had taken off to.

JJ frowned and looked up from the silverware "I thought you were in DC for the night," she said, confused. She glanced over at Hotch. "Hotch told us you were going to look around."

"Yeah, and you didn't answer your damn cell phone," Rossi grumbled. "We're low on scotch thanks to Prentiss over there." He jerked his thumb in Emily's direction. His answer was her tongue being stuck out at him.

Derek raised a brow at Hotch. "You didn't tell them?" he asked.

Reid sat forward in his chair, very interested in what was going on. "What?" he asked nervously. "Tell us what?"

Before Hotch could answer however, both Jack and Henry came running into the room. Both of them were breathing heavily and their faces were covered with looks of pure excitement.

"Mama, Mama!" Henry yelled happily, jumping into his mother's arms.

JJ looked at her son with a perplexed smile on her face. "What's up little man?" she asked. "You seem excited."

Jack spoke next. "You guys will never believe this!" he said.

Henry nodded in agreement and looked his mother directly in the eye. "Mama, there's a girl in the house!" he cried.

Everyone was silent for a moment and they all looked at one another. A girl? Derek's business in DC had been a girl? Their faces all filled with hope. Maybe she was the one, the one who could break the Curse that Strauss had inflicted upon them. Even the possibility made them all perk up with excitement. There was now a chance they might change back. It was surreal.

Emily shot to her feet, putting both hands excitedly in the air and doing a small happy dance. "This is it!" she cried happily. "This is the one! The one who will break the spell!"

"Hold on, there's really a girl here?" Reid asked.

"Well, there are actually two," Jack said.

Rossi fixed Morgan with a glare. "_Two_?" he demanded. "You're supposed to find _true love_ and you come back with _two_ women? You know, Morgan..._two_ and _true_ may sound a little alike, but they sure as hell don't rhyme! You can't find true love with two women! I think that's what Strauss was trying to tell you with this whole treatment of women problem you have: monogamy is a _good _thing! You can't just pick up a bunch of hussies off the street!" He huffed angrily and went back to the liquor cabinet. Pulling the scotch back out, he grumbled, "Screw the stock problem. I need a drink right now."

Derek fixed Rossi with a fierce glare. "For your information, Rossi this wasn't supposed to happen," he said angrily. "Now...would you like me to tell you the story, especially since now you have your drink in hand?"

Rossi plunked himself down next to Emily at the counter and raised his glass as permission to continue on. "Fine," he said grouchily. "Do explain."

Sighing, Derek began to retell the story of how Penelope and her friend had ended up at the mansion with him. "So I told them to come with me," he finished. "I didn't want to just leave her there...not with that guy around still."

Everyone sat in stunned silence for a long few moments. JJ spoke first. "So...Penelope? Penelope Garcia? The technical analyst you didn't like? That's the woman you saved?"

Derek nodded. He hadn't divulged to the team in his brief play-by-play about what he was feeling for Penelope or that he'd saved her the night prior to the present one. The only one who had a clue what was truly going on was Hotch.

Folding his arms across his chest, he started to pace in front of them. "Alright," he said. "So since she's here, we're all going to have to use our names that Strauss gave us when she decided to give us new faces." He looked at Will. "Still got that letter hanging on the fridge over there?"

Will nodded and strode quickly to grab the letter Strauss had left them that explained who they all were now. "Got it right here," he said, passing the paper over to Derek.

Derek scanned it quickly. "Alright," he said, looking back up. Pointing to Hotch, he asked, "Hotch? Do you remember who your new identity is?"

Hotch nodded slowly. "Jack and I are Jonathan and Harrison: a father and son duo who tends the gardens."

"Alright. Rossi, Prentiss...who are you two?"

Rossi sniffed and Prentiss snorted. "No idea," she said dryly for the both of them.

"You're Colin and Leanne. You're a butler and a maid."

"Pfft. The maid part I _hadn't_ forgotten," Emily snapped, sipping her drink.

Derek shot her a look and then turned his attention to Reid. "Kid? Who are you?" he quizzed.

Reid straightened himself up. "I'm in charge of the library and my name is Jackson," he said smoothly, shooting a smug look at Rossi and Prentiss. Both of them looked at him liked they wanted to sock him in the jaw.

Derek nodded. "Good," he said approvingly. "Alright! JJ and Will! You and Henry are..."

JJ motioned to herself and said, "I'm Natasha, housekeeper and Henry is my son, Marcus, while Will is my husband, Declan, a cook."

"Good, good," he said. Opening his mouth to continue, he was cut off by JJ.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" she pointed out.

He shook his head and scowled. "No," he snapped.

She shook her head. "Yes, you are," she said firmly. "Who are you? Or did you forget that Strauss gave you a new name too?"

Derek looked down at the paper and saw who Strauss had changed him into.

_Greyson..._

He looked back up at JJ and nodded slowly. "Oh," he said. Inhaling once and then exhaling deeply, he added, "I'm Greyson...the heartless recluse of the household." He became quiet after that. Having a new name would be harder than he thought. New person in the house...new name to get used to. Pushing the thoughts aside, he cleared his throat and went on. "Now that we've gotten that taken out of the way, we need back stories. We need to figure them out. Then we can go meet Penelope and her friend."

"What exactly are we doing with them?" Hotch asked. "I'm not seeing a way of keeping her here."

Derek shook his head. "She'll be safe here...away from Brad. I can keep her safe."

Hotch raised a brow at him. "You really think you'll be able to keep her here?" he asked incredulously.

Nodding, even though he was deeply conflicted about it on the inside, Derek said, "Yeah. I'll definitely be able to keep her here. Whether she likes it or not."


	11. Meeting The Staff

**Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine and neither are the characters. Just the plot bunnies are mine.**

**I'm very, very sorry that this is being released so late. I will try to keep these coming...figuring out how to manage my time when I'm working so many hours is a little difficult. Time management has never been one of my strong suits. Here be the tenth chapter :) I hope you like it! Thank you for your kind reviews and I'm glad you all are enjoying the story so far! Penelope is about to meet her former team all reinvented in Strauss' image and Derek is about to get a taste of Hurricane Garcia. Enjoy!**

"You want to try and keep a woman against her will?" JJ asked doubtfully. She glanced around at the rest of the team. They all had looks of skepticism as well. "Derek, that sounds crazy. You can't just force a woman to stay somewhere she doesn't want to be!"

He shook his head. "I'll just explain to her that she should stay here until someone catches Brad...I just won't tell her that he's disappeared until she falls in love with me."

Reid raised a finger in the air to interrupt. "Er, Morgan," he said, "I don't want to seem insensitive, but...what if she _doesn't_ fall in love with you. You seem awfully sure of her falling in love with you. I mean, even more difficult than keeping someone against their will, is forcing someone to fall in love with you." He paused for a moment and added more frantically, "Or, _or_! What if you fall in love with her friend?"

He shook his head firmly. "No," he said. "I won't."

He didn't say anything more and his team thought that was incredibly odd. He was so sure about this? What if he didn't fall in love with Penelope? What if she wasn't the elusive One?

But then, it occurred to Hotch - and only Hotch - that maybe Derek already fallen in love with her. The fierce protectiveness he was exhibiting for her made him think there was something more going on for him.

"Reid's right," Prentiss agreed after the long silence.

Derek scowled and turned back to JJ. "Okay," he said, ignoring all their worries. "JJ, I think we need all of you to meet her first. And seeing as you are the head of the household stuff, I think you should make all the introductions."

"What about you?" Rossi asked. "What the hell are you going to do while we're all getting _re _introduced to Penelope Garcia and whoever the hell her friend is?"

"I'm going to hide," he said. "Just for now though. I'll wait until a little later to meet her in person."

"Seriously?" Prentiss and Rossi groaned at the same time.

Derek glared at the two of them and snapped, "Just go meet them."

The whole team started arguing, thinking about the different ways they were supposed to meet Penelope and finally JJ raised both her hands in the air to call the room to order. "Shut up!" she hollered.

Everyone stopped their arguing and stared at her, shocked that they were hearing JJ yell at them all. Once they were all quiet and staring at her in silence, she put her hands together and said calmly, "Okay. Now, let's just go out and meet her all at once. Morgan, you go hide in your room like a sissy. Come out when you're ready to stop being a coward."

Derek nodded. "Fair enough."

They all were silent again, but then they burst into action, scurrying around to try and fix themselves up before meeting the woman who might have been their only chance at salvation. Derek, meanwhile, made his way out of the kitchen, going to find a place in which he could watch the meeting unfold.

XXXXX

Penelope and Ashley looked around the grand entryway they were in and walked along the long red carpet. She could hardly believe where they were. Here she was, standing in the middle of the most beautiful house she had ever entered and she was confused as hell as to why. Couldn't the man who had rescued them have dropped them off at the police station to make a report and leave them be? And what was with his refusal to show his face?

"This place is so beautiful," Ashley breathed out. "Have you ever seen anything like it? You gotta wonder where he got all this stuff! It's insane! He must be, like, a millionaire!"

She rolled her eyes. "You're just getting sucked into the hype," she said. "We just have to get out of here and we can go to the police. It'll be okay." But she couldn't help it. The house was incredible. She was just as curious about this place as her best friend.

And Ashley knew it.

"Pfft. Admit it, Garcia. You want to know about this place and this guy just as much as I do. Actually! You want to know about it more than I do because you think this guy is curious about you as you are about him."

Penelope just stuck her nose in the air and started ahead of Ashley.

"Hello!"

Startled, Penelope and Ashley jumped when they heard the voice of someone Eastern European. They looked towards one of the smaller doorways that led to a hallway that led to who knew where. A lithe and nimble black haired woman with full lips and pale, almost translucent skin had appeared with an entourage of people behind her. Next to her was a tiny, very young looking Asian girl stood with her arms crossed in a gruff manner. Four men stood with them: a rather large man with a twirly mustache, a thinner man with shaggy brown hair and an appearance rather similar to Heath Ledger, a red headed thin man with a scruffy face, and an elderly man with graying hair. Also with them were two young boys, one looking like the older man and another who looked like an exact replica of the woman who had spoken.

Ashley grinned and went forward to shake her hand. "Hi!" she said. "I'm Ashley Seaver! It's so nice to meet you! I know we're kind of invading your house, but -"

"Oh, you're mistaken," she said, holding her hands up and smiling softly. "This isn't our house. It's our employer's house, Greyson Kent. We work for him." She gestured to her fellow companions. "Our maid is Leanne." She put a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "And these gentlemen are Colin, our butler; Jackson, our librarian; Declan, our cook and also my husband; and Jonathan, the gardener. This is Jonathan's son, Harrison. And this is my son, Marcus."

"And who are you?" Penelope asked cautiously, going up to Ashley's side. "You haven't introduced yourself yet."

The woman looked at her with a curious expression in her eyes and for a moment Penelope felt like she had met her before. It was strange. The friendly, warm expression in her dark eyes told her they must have met before. But there was no way; she had never met anyone from Eastern Europe before. Unless she was struck with amnesia at any point in her life, she didn't have any clue who this woman was.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said. "How rude of me! I'm Natasha. I'm the housekeeper." She held out her hand to shake Penelope's.

To Penelope's own surprise, she found herself smiling softly back and shaking her hand. "Well, I'm Penelope. Penelope Garcia. Your..." Well now she knew his name. But even saying it made her tongue felt weird. It was weird to say someone's name without ever having met them. "Well, _Greyson_...brought us...here." She couldn't stop stuttering. What the hell was wrong with her? She looked nervously around at the rest of the staff who worked in the house.

The gardener looked grim and said, "We apologize for his behavior. It's just, he wants to protect you."

Penelope didn't get a chance to say anything. Ashley burst in with a, "Aw, that's so sweet! He's willing to protect my bestie!" She pulled Penelope into a side hug and grinned.

"It's just until they catch Brad," he added. "He did...call the police and informed them of what happened. They did recommend making a move somewhere else and your schedule. Anything your ex boyfriend would know about."

"But - but I work for the FBI! They won't know where I am! I could lose my job!" she protested. This could not be happening. She had to stay here?

The more heavy set man shook his head. "Oh, no," he said. "You won't lose it. The police will contact your work and explain that you've been moved into somewhere safe."

"Aren't I supposed to -"

This time it was the maid that snorted. "Listen, it's fine! Chill out."

Natasha shot a look at her companion and glared at her before turning to the girls again. "Well," she said, clapping her hands together. "I'll show you to your rooms. Ms. Seaver, you're welcome to stay as long as you like, but it's our understanding you live out of town. You'll be safe."

"Okay!" Ashley said excitedly. "I'm willing to stay for a few days. I still have two days before I have to be back in Boston!"

Penelope looked around the grand hallway nervously. "Er, what about our clothing, or anything else we need?" she asked. "Or any of my things?"

Natasha shook her head. "Oh, no! Don't worry! Leanne and Colin needed to head into DC tomorrow to retrieve your things. If you give him your address, they can get your things while they're there."

It took Penelope a long moment to answer. Finally, she gave in and nodded. "Okay," she agreed. "I can do that."

"Well, why don't we give you a tour of the house?" Natasha asked with a sweet smile. "Jonathan can give you a tour of the gardens tomorrow and you can also go walking on the paths in the woods too. There's a small lake down one of them. It's quite lovely."

Penelope nodded. "Okay," she said. "Er, I'm just going to find a bathroom real quick." She looked around nervously. "Where - er, where can I find it?"

Colin, the butler, spoke up and pointed down one of the hallways. "There's one down that way," he said. "We'll just be down that way."

She nodded again. "Okay," she said. "I'll, uh, come and find you when I'm done." She cast a look at Ashley and made sure she was okay with her leaving her alone. Ashley just grinned and gave her a thumb's up. Sighing, she said, "I'll see you all in a bit."

XXXXX

Derek waited until the rest of the team and Penelope's friend, Ashley had exited the grand hallway and descended the stairs again to follow Penelope down the hallway. He had a sneaking suspicion she wasn't going to use the restroom. Sure enough, she was just standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.

"Breathe, Garcia," she was telling herself. "You're just being held hostage at a house with a guy you know nothing about. It's not a big deal. You just have no freedom whatsoever."

He sighed. This was going to be interesting. He had no idea how he was going to handle this. Apparently she didn't want to be there. Was she nuts? This was the nicest house she would probably ever be in and she wanted to leave?

Suddenly he began to feel unsure. How was he supposed to talk to her when she was going to push him away at every moment? Maybe talking with her now wasn't such a great idea. He needed to figure out how to get through to her. What he really needed to do was figure out how to talk to her without her being scared by his protectiveness. That was the part of him he wanted her to see. Strauss had told him he was nothing but a pretty face and that was how he got everything he had ever gotten. So the way he saw it, he needed to play to his strengths. Protecting people was what he used to do. If she could see that, he might just have a shot.

His feelings...well he didn't think those would be too hard. But that wasn't what he needed to focus on. It was Penelope who mattered.

She needed to see that he was looking out for her best interests. True, he was making her stay at his mansion until she fell in love with him...but she didn't need to know that.

So turning around, he hurried off before Penelope could see that he was there.

**A shorter one...but the next one will be fun! I think you'll like it :)**


	12. First Meeting

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Criminal Minds :( I'm sad now.**

**Thank you all for the reviews :) I'm so thrilled that you like this story! Hurricane Garcia is going to be unleashed on our rather unsuspecting Morgan. He is in for a treat...as are you all! I hope you like this chapter! It's pretty pivotal in the story considering...well, why don't I let you read it? :) As always, PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**

Penelope woke up in the lush bed she had spent the night in. She reached for her glasses on the bedside table and stared up at the ornately painted ceiling. The night had passed relatively uneventful. The staff of the house had given them a tour of the inside of the mansion and she had gone to bed extremely awed. The house was incredible, filled with different objects of art and expensive furniture. There was even a gigantic authentic ballroom with a huge fireplace. It was beautiful.

What she found so strange was they still hadn't seen Greyson Kent, the employer. She desperately wanted to meet him and give him a piece of her mind at how much she hated being locked up. There were several points when she thought he was going to show up, but then it turned out to be nothing.

A knock sounded from the door and she sat up tiredly, going to the door to see who it was. Opening it a crack, she saw Ashley, already dressed and bearing two mugs of coffee. She groaned. "Oh, hey Ash," she said, opening the door and accepting the cup of coffee. She went to sit next on her bed and Ashley sat next to her.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Ashely cooed.

Penelope glared at her. "You're too chirpy this morning," she said, sipping her coffee. A guilty look covered Ashley's face and Penelope groaned again. "Oh God. What is it? You're looking at me with those puppy dog eyes that tells me there's something you have to tell me that I'm not going to like."

"Oh, you can read me like a book, can't you?" Ashley said with a silly grin. "Isn't it great how we're such good friends like that?"

"Don't change the subject, sweetie," Penelope said, blinking several times.

Ashley sighed. "I can't stay today," she said solemnly. "Work needs to me tomorrow morning. I have to leave in an hour."

Penelope's eyes went wide. "No, no!" she said. "You can't leave me alone here! I'll be all alone!"

"Silly," Ashley said, ruffling Penelope's hair. "You're not alone! You've got a house full of people. And remember? The little boys liked you a lot. And Natasha was really nice to us. She liked us. The little one, Leanne wasn't super pleasant, but Natasha was cool."

Sighing, Penelope said, "Well, I guess you're kind of right about that." She thought back to the night before when she had been introduced to the household. "I'm still going to miss you." Her lower lip trembled and she pulled Ashley into a hug. "I just don't know why everyone thinks I should be here. I can't just move to another apartment?"

"You'll be okay," Ashley said. "I'm going to come visit whenever I can get away."

Somehow Penelope wasn't so sure about the okay part.

XXXXX

"I'm going for a run," Derek said to Hotch as he walked into the garden, his sweatshirt and sweatpants back on now that he was done with his business in DC.

Hotch looked up from clipping the rose thorns and wiped his brow. He cocked an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be trying to meet Penelope? She's a sweet girl. I don't think you should be so self-conscious."

Derek shook his head nervously. He wasn't quite ready to meet Penelope yet. What he really needed was a run. He could clear his head. "Er, no," he said. "Not right now. She's probably still trying to...adjust. That's right...adjust." Hotch blinked several times and started to laugh. He shook his head. Derek looked at him in confusion. "What? What's so funny?" He glared at him.

"You're such a chicken shit," he said, continuing his clipping of the roses. "You should meet her. Again anyway." He fixed him with a hard stare. "I get that you're nervous. I know that it's a little scary. I remember how it was when I saw Haley for the first time and then I couldn't stand to meet her until a little later. I was pretty instantly smitten."

"I wouldn't say I was instantly smitten," Derek snorted.

Hotch laughed louder. "Please, Derek," he said. "You were smitten with her that first day you saw her at Quantico. Don't try and deny it. I saw you. You thought she was the most different woman you'd ever seen. And you liked it."

Derek huffed and pulled his hood up over his head. "Screw off," he said, starting off at a jog towards the woods. But he knew Hotch's words were true. He was smitten with Penelope and that smitten feeling could easily grow into more. As he started off into the trees, he relished the feel of the cool wind against his skin. He kept running through the wooded trails, winding through the trees and jumping over fallen logs as he went. As he ran, his mind was filled with thoughts of Penelope.

She had a fragile beauty that he couldn't get over. Her skin was silky soft and he remembered the feel of it from when he picked her up to carry her to her apartment. She hadn't just let Brad walk all over her. She had fought him. True, she wouldn't have made it very far against him, but the fact that she had fought made her special to him. With each step he took, the thoughts of her grew stronger, more intense. It was as if she were standing right next to him. When he reached the lake, he slowed to a walk and stared out at the water. His breath was coming out in misty puffs from his mouth and he wiped his forehead. And oddly enough, he felt himself smiling. It had been months since he had smiled.

And it was all because of Penelope. What if she _did_ break the curse? What if she brought him back? It would be wonderful. It brought him hope. And with hope, there was a chance of change.

XXXXX

After Colin and Leanne had pulled out of the driveway with Ashley in the car with them, Penelope sighed and went back into the house. She was going to be so lonely now. She didn't know anyone at the house she was at. The feeling of being alone was already setting in.

"Hi, Penelope!"

She looked to her right to see Natasha coming out of the hallway that led to the kitchen. Penelope waved and tried smiling. "Er, hi Natasha," she said. She tried to bring some light into her smile and eyes, but it was too hard. She missed Ashley too much.

"I'm sure this is a shock, Penelope," Natasha said, coming to walk next to her and putting a hand on her arm. "I know you must miss your friend. But I want you to know that I told her she is welcome any time."

Penelope sighed. "Thanks, Natasha," she said. "I just...I just need a little time to adjust. I never thought I'd end up in the middle of the woods after my ex-boyfriend tried to rape me. Odd as it sounds, I'm really missing my job. I don't even know what I'm going to do while I'm here." She gestured around the grand hallway. "I mean, this place is huge and beautiful, but let's be honest...what can I do here?"

"We can find all sorts of things for you to do," Natasha said sweetly. "If you want right now, there are trails that go through the woods. You could check them out right now!"

Looking outside, she noted the bright, shining sun and nodded. "Hmm," she said. "You know? That doesn't seem like such a bad idea." She smiled brightly, this time sincerely. She looked back at Natasha and grinned. "I think I'll go find the lake. Which -" She pointed in twelve different directions randomly. "Er, which way do I go to get outside?"

"Oh! Just go down that hallway there," she directed. "You just go down the door that's at the end of it. Go through the gardens and you'll find the trail that leads to the lake."

Penelope bounded towards the door, waving as she went. "I'll see you later, Natasha!"

"Lunch is at noon!" Natasha said with a smile. "The boys wanted mac n' cheese. I hope that's okay."

"Perfect," Penelope said. "I'll be back by then!"

XXXXX

"She's headed out to the woods!" JJ said excitedly, rushing into the library where Jack and Henry were working with Reid on their schoolwork that he had effectively taken over when they were cursed. "Reid, you'll never believe it! She's going outside!"

Reid looked up from helping the boys with their schoolwork and met JJ's eyes. "Huh?" he said.

JJ sighed. "Penelope...she was looking for something to do, so she decided to go down to the lake. And who do we know that goes to the woods for a run every morning? Usually ending up down by the lake?"

His face brightened. "Oh, Jennifer Jareau, you sly lady," he said with a smile.

"I have my moments," she said with a grin.

XXXXX

Penelope made it to the lake that Natasha had told her about and looked out over the water. The light from the sun was shining down on the water, casting a flickering glow over the pristine view. She sighed. Okay...this really was beautiful. She couldn't find a lot to complain about when the day was so nice and the scenery was to die for. She was glad now that she had decided to make the trek out here. As a child her parents had taken her on trips to the woods and she had spent her time in them running through the leaves, climbing the trees. It had been a while since she had come out and just spent time in them.

The last time she had been in the woods had probably been when her parents were still alive.

From behind her she heard the sound of heavy breathing and her curiosity got peaked. She couldn't see anyone, but she decided to follow the sound of it. Going a little ways off the path, she tread carefully over the sticks and dead leaves, trying not to make a noise. She crept along towards a brightly lit clearing until she found a figure clad in dark sweatpants and hoodie practicing kickboxing. Granted, he wasn't hitting anything. He was just pounding the air. But it was clear that this was Greyson Kent. She'd recognize the raw power he possessed anywhere. For a moment she decided to watch him. He was gorgeous with his movements, graceful and precise. It was incredible to watch. She understood now how Brad could be knocked out with one hit. Just watching him strike out at the air made it obvious he was brutal with his strength.

She was intrigued. She wanted to talk to him. And she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

"Hello?" she called.

Greyson almost jumped out of his skin and whirled around. She still couldn't see his face, but she knew he was shocked as hell. "Wh - what are you doing here?" he demanded, his voice filled with stutters.

She stepped forward into the clearing and smiled. "You know, I never thanked you," she said. "For saving my life, I mean. I'm sorry if I seemed ungrateful."

He coughed. "Uh...you're welcome," he said awkwardly.

"Can you -" She paused. She didn't want to seem rude, but she needed to see him. "Can you take your hood off?" she asked. "I just want to thank you face to face."

He was silent. "Er, how about not now," he suggested, turning around so that his back was to her. But after a few moments of silence, he turned around and sighed. "Just - just..." His voice trailed off. Then he lifted his hands to his hood and slowly began to pull it down.


	13. Something Oddly Familiar

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds :(**

**Sorry about the cliffhanger on the last chapter! Who's ready for Penelope's reaction? It's about to get good...at least I think so :) I appreciate your reviews on my story so far...it's probably my favorite fan fiction I've written and I'm thrilled you like it.**

**Now, I wanted to run an idea by you all. Seeing as this fairy tale retelling is going well, I kind of want to do another one. This one will contain JJ as the leading character, but I'm going to ask you guys to vote on which man to have play her lover - Rossi, Reid, or Hotch (sorry, Morgan is Garcia's!) - and which fairy tale I should do - Snow White, The Little Mermaid, or Sleeping Beauty. Please let me know what you guys want...I'm happy to give it to you all!**

Greyson started pulling his hood down and Penelope watched carefully. She knew she shouldn't have, but her eyes grew wide when she saw what his face looked like. It was severely scarred and there were gashes spanning across his whole bald head. He unzipped his hoodie and took it off, exposing his muscular chest that was also scarred. It was a gruesome sight. But she forced herself not to move. After all, she didn't know this man at all. She didn't know how he ended up this way, but did it really matter?

"I know," he said softly. "It's awful."

She gulped, but then shook her head. There were much worse people in the world that looked gorgeous and were complete monsters. "I've seen worse...you've seen my ex-boyfriend. He's -"

He nodded. "Yeah," he said. "But he doesn't look like a monster."

She didn't say anything. Going forward, she stuck out her hand for him to shake. "Hi," she said. "I'm Penelope."

Looking rather nervous, he stuck out his hand to shake hers. "I'm De - er, I'm Greyson," he said.

The second their skin touched she felt a spark, an immediate form of connection that she didn't understand. It was so strange. She hadn't felt an immediate connection like this with anyone since...since Derek Morgan. But she hadn't thought about him in months, not since the whole BAU team had disappeared. Even his eyes reminded her of him.

They stood in the clearing for a moment, neither of them speaking. Penelope had the strangest feeling, much like the strange feeling she had when she was meeting Natasha, that she was meeting Greyson for the second time. But that was impossible. She had never ever in her life met this man. Still, looking into his eyes was oddly familiar.

"So," she said, sticking her hands in the pockets of her jeans, "I was wondering...is it really necessary for me to...you know, live here?" She watched his neutral face carefully, awaiting his answer. "I'm pretty sure I can just move from my apartment. I don't need to intrude anymore. I can -"

He shook his head. "Trust me," he said. "You'll be much safer here. You'll be fine if you stay here."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Why do you think I'd be safer here?"

"Think about it," he said, zipping his hoodie back up. "Is that asshole going to ever find you out here?"

"Yeah, but there are tons of places for me to find where he won't find me," she said.

"You don't want to live in a mansion?" He smirked slightly and she found that irritating. It was his turn to cock an eyebrow. "Don't all girls want to live in one of those?"

A laugh bubbled out of her mouth and a flash of anger went up her spine. Who did this guy think he was? True, he had saved her life, but now he was being unreasonable. She thought talking to him would lighten his mood and she could return to her life and work, but apparently he had other ideas. And apparently he thought she was all about materialistic things. Yes, the house was beautiful, but she had a life to live. "Excuse me? I'm sorry, but I don't think you get it. This house is beautiful, but I can't stay here. I have a life and a job."

"Well, until that pervert is caught, the police think you'll be here," he explained, walking towards the base of a tree where he had left a water bottle. He took a long gulp from it. "It's safe here."

She groaned internally, trying to figure out the best way to tell him she was grateful but wanted to leave. "Look. Greyson," she said, going closer to him. She moved to look him in the eye. "It's not that I don't appreciate everything you've done for me. You saved my life and I'm always going to be grateful for that. But I can't stay here."

"Sure you can," he said. "I can give you anything you want. I can get anything out here for you."

"No offense," she started, "but I _can _take care of myself. I'm a big girl. And if I have any problems, I'll call and ask if I can come out here."

He shook his head once again and she was taken back at how stubborn he was. "Trust me," he said. "You'll be much safer here."

"Is there some reason you want me to stay here?" she asked.

"I -" He stopped before continuing and shook his head. "Listen, I have to, uh, I have to go. I'm still working out, so I'll see you later for..." His voice trailed off and he started off at a jog through the woods until he disappeared.

Penelope was left standing in the middle of the clearing now, completely baffled. "What the hell was that about?" she asked the empty air, wondering if she was ever going to get answers. All she knew for sure at that moment though, was she was stuck in the middle of nowhere in a fabulous mansion

XXXXX

"How did your walk go?" Natasha asked when Penelope entered the kitchen. She looked up from the pan mac n' cheese she had pulled out of the oven. "It's lovely out there isn't it?"

There was a twinkle in the woman's eye that had Penelope thinking she might have known her employer was going to be out there.

Trying to change the subject, Penelope pointed to the pan and said, "You make your mac n' cheese home made?" She smiled widely. "Awesome! I haven't had home made mac n' cheese since I was a kid." She sat down next to Harrison and Marcus and smiled at them. "Hi there, guys."

"Hi Ms. Penelope," they said simultaneously with huge grins.

Natasha brought out plates from the cabinet and smirked. "Hmm," she said. "Changing the subject, I see." She scooped out food onto four plates and gave three to the boys. "Boys, I think Jonathan would love it if you joined him out in the garden." She turned to Penelope. "How's the temperature out there?"

"Good." Penelope nodded.

"Excellent! Why don't you go out to the garden and have lunch with him?" she suggested.

"When's Daddy going to be home?" Marcus asked his mother, pouting his lips. "He promised me we would play soccer when he got home!"

Natasha kissed the top of her son's head and murmured, "Daddy will be home soon. He went with Colin and Leanne to go get food."

"Come on, Marcus," Harrison said. "I'm sure my daddy's hungry. We only have a little while before we have to get back to school." He said the last sentence with a look of distaste.

The two boys bounded off and Natasha smiled after them. Once they were gone, she turned back around to Penelope and set the fourth plate in front of her. "Here's a fork," she added, grabbing one from the drawer.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Penelope asked, taking the fork.

"No," Natasha said, sitting down at the counter across from Penelope. "I'm just going to wait for my husband to get home. But you go right ahead. We can chat while we're sitting here."

Penelope nodded gratefully and dug in; she hadn't eaten breakfast. Taking a bite of the macaroni, she gasped. "This is absolutely, freakin' delicious!" she said. "Where did you learn to make this?"

"It's an old recipe of my husband's," she said. "Someone he met when they dropped into his pub back in Dublin gave it to him."

"That was nice of them," she said. "If I were them I would have guarded this with my life. They could've made a fortune off of it!"

Natasha grinned. "It _is_ good," she said. "So! Tell me about your walk? It's lovely out there, isn't it?"

Penelope nodded. "It's gorgeous," she said. "You weren't kidding when you said it would be a nice walk. And I, uh -" She blushed fiercely and looked down at her food, avoiding the gaze of the housekeeper. "I met Greyson. Or, I mean, Mr. Kent."

"Oh my goodness!" Natasha laughed. She started to giggle uncontrollably, so much that tears of laughter started to trickle from her eyes.

"What?" Penelope asked in confusion.

"Sweetheart, you don't need to call him _Mr. Kent_!" she said, wiping her eyes. "You can call him Greyson. Trust me...he's not big on formalities."

Penelope titled her head to the side. "You don't call him that? You just call him Greyson?" That seemed a little odd for an employee in a household as big and fancy as the one she was in.

"He's very laid back," Natasha explained. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"A glass of water would be great," Penelope said.

Natasha rose from her seat and went to the industrial sized fridge. She pulled out a bottle of Evian and handed it across to Penelope. "So, what did you think of my boss?" Seeing the uncomfortable look on Penelope's face, she added, "I know...it's kind of shocking at first."

Penelope looked at her in confusion. "What's shocking? His manners? Because yeah, those were kind of shocking. He took off pretty fast before we could have much of a conversation." Natasha didn't answer her immediately. Instead she blinked at her several times. Penelope understood what she was trying to say. "Oh!" She bit her lip. "You're talking about..." Her voice trailed off. To be honest, she had not even thought about his face after getting over the initial shock of it.

"It happened a long time ago," Natasha said. It looked like she was waiting for Penelope to say more, but she stayed quiet.

"Does he talk to many people?" she asked, sitting forward and twirling one of her curls on her finger. She was deeply curious. She wanted to know more about her mysterious savior. "I get the distinct impression that he's not really a people person."

Natasha smiled slightly and said, "Well, I can give you a few pointers if you want. On how to deal with him, I mean."

Penelope nodded and took another bite of her noodles. "Okay!" she said, somewhat happily.

XXXXX

Rossi and Prentiss were starting for the kitchen after taking up boxes to Penelope's room. "God, can you believe the amount of _crap_ that woman has?" Prentiss said with a scowl. "Where's all the regular clothing? There's nothing in there remotely close to normal in those boxes!"

"Chill out, Prentiss," Rossi snapped. "She's got spunk. So what if her closet isn't the exact replica of yours?"

She was going to say something else, but then they ran into JJ and Penelope. "Oh, hi," she said coldly. "Ro - I mean, _Colin_ and I just finished getting Ashley back to her car and getting your things from your apartment. It looked like your boyfriend went through it and destroyed a lot of it, but we got your clothing and we found your laptop. Apparently he didn't think to destroy that."

Penelope's eyes went wide. "Oh my God!" she said. "Well, thank you for getting my things. I'm going to go change out of these clothes." She smiled brightly at JJ. "Thanks for lunch, Natasha. And for, you know..." She stopped talking and blushed. "Well, I'll see you guys later! Thanks again, you two for getting my things." Then she bounded off in the direction of the stairs.

JJ smiled after her and Emily cocked a brow. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"Oh, Penelope met Morgan this morning," JJ responded, motioning for them to follow her to the kitchen. "It went rather well."

Rossi became very interested all of the sudden. "Oh? And how would you define _well_ for a situation like this one?"

"So well, she spent the last hour and a half before you all got home asking me questions about him," JJ said brightly. "And let me tell you, I think this is the greatest girl he will ever meet. She's funny, she's smart, she's...a lot of wonderful things."

Rossi was thrilled. "We need to rejoice! We've found the girl who can break the spell!"

Even Emily started to brighten up. "You really think she might be able to do it?" she asked desperately, her rotten attitude going out the window. "Seriously?" She started grinning and grabbed Rossi's hands and began jumping up and down. "Okay, I'm on board with this! Let's get these two to start falling in love!"

"Well, they only talked for about five minutes and most of it consisted of him pussyfooting around her," JJ said slowly. Both their faces fell. "But I'd say we've got a form of a start going on here."

Emily and Rossi huffed. "Yeah," Rossi bemoaned, "a start."

**So don't forget to review and let me know about which princess JJ should be :)**


	14. A Shopping Trip

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Criminal Minds :( I'm crying on the inside now.**

**Sorry about the wait! I've had a few overnight shifts lately and it leaves me much less time to write than I would like. Now, I have so far collected a sorta poll tally on the JJ fairy tale retelling. Based on my correspondence with people and on what you leave in reviews, Sleeping Beauty will be the fairy tale I do. As for who to pair her with, Hotch and Reid are tied for the lady's heart. If you would leave a comment who you would like to see JJ with, please leave a comment in your review.**

Penelope had spent the last week exploring the mansion, but only once had she seen Greyson. It was in the garden. The day was relatively chilly, but the sun was shining and the rays from it were lighting her skin, making her feel warmer. She had seen him, looking at the roses. He was extremely quiet, his hood up, covering the majority of his head.

"_Hi!'' she called. She smiled brightly._

_He jumped, startled. Instinctively almost, he pulled his hood further up his face. He waved awkwardly._

_She started towards him, looking at the bushes upon bushes of white roses as she went. Stopping in front of him, she said, "You must really like white roses? You know they're supposed to represent innocence? And seeing as Jonathan cut off the thorns, they're supposed to mean love at first sight." She searched his face for some form of emotion, any sign that he might be in there somewhere._

_Nothing._

_Sighing, she said, "You know, this might be a little easier for me to be here if you would talk to me. So far you haven't really said much. The most I've heard from you was telling me that being here would be for my own good." He looked at her with a curious expression on his face and she burst out laughing. "What?"_

_He shook his head. "Nothing." He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground._

"_No! You were going to say something! I'm positive!" She hoped her grin would be infectious enough to see him smile. So far, he had yet to smile. And for some reason she desperately wanted to see him smile._

"_You - you're not freaked out by me?" he asked._

_She shook her head. "No," she said simply._

"_Most people wouldn't say that," he said bluntly, still not meeting her eyes._

"_I think you'll find that I'm not most peope," she said softly._

Right then she was lying face down on her bed and thinking about how bored she was. She loved the whole staff at the mansion, even the chilly Leanne, who had decided to warm up to her mysteriously. But she was unbelievably...bored. Daily walks through the woods and seeing the picturesque lake couldn't make up for the lack of activity going on at the beautiful mansion.

From the other side of the room, there was a knock on the door. She looked up and said, "Come in!"

It was Harrison and Marcus.

"Hi Miss Penelope!" they said.

They trotted over to her huge bed and hopped on it, bouncing up and down.

She sat up and smiled at them. "Hi boys. What are you doing in here?"

"My momma wanted me to come ask you if you wanted to go shopping with her," Marcus said sweetly.

Penelope smiled and ruffled Marcus' hair. "Will you go tell her that I would _love _to go shopping with her?" Getting up, she added, "I'll be right down."

Harrison took Marcus' hand and said, "Come on, Marcus. Let's go tell your Mom." He waved at Penelope and the two of them bounded out the door. She smiled at their retreating forms and got up from her seat on the bed and went to retrieve her shoes and purse. As she was heading out the door of her room, she caught sight of Greyson at the end of the hall. He was heading towards the room that was his and he disappeared inside. She huffed. She was getting angrier by the second. She was sick of him avoiding her and never talking to her. There had to be a way to get his attention.

Sighing, she started down the grand staircase and met up with Natasha. She smiled widely, glad to be getting out of the house. "Hi Natasha! Sorry I haven't left my room all day."

"Oh, don't worry!" Natasha said with a smile. "You ready to go get some shopping done? I thought you might want to get out of the house for a little while."

She nodded and grinned fiercely. "You have no idea," she said wistfully.

XXXXX

"I think I'm going to try these two on," Penelope said, holding up two different dresses on hangers for Natasha to see.

Natasha nodded. "Those two are the best you've looked at," she said. "I can't wait to see them on you!"

Penelope bit her lip, slightly uneasy, slightly excited to see herself in the two dresses. She disappeared into the changing room and started undressing herself, ready to slide herself into her first dress. She closed her eyes slowly and took a deep breath before checking out her appearance. The dress she had put on was a tight, strapless navy blue number that was sprinkled with cream colored flowers. It fit her nicely. She was pretty pleased with it.

"Well, let's see what Natasha thinks," she murmured. She opened the door to the changing room and looked at Natasha hopefully. "So? How does it look?" She studied her face.

Natasha nodded approvingly. "Ooh, I _like_ that one," she said with a grin. "Can we see the other one?"

She went back into the changing room. The next dress looked even better on her. She sighed dreamily. This one was just a simple black dress that hugged her body. It wasn't her normal embellished or brightly pattered style, but it accentuated her curves well. The neckline was plunging, but it showed her cleavage tastefully. She hoped Natasha would think it looked great too.

There was definitely someone else she wanted to think it looked great on her. Maybe it would be a conversation starter and loosen his tongue up.

"Check this one out!" she said proudly, opening the door and striking a dramatic pose.

"Oh. My. God." Natasha's jaw dropped. It was clear she thought the dress looked great as well. "That dress looks amazing on you, Penelope! You look freaking beautiful!"

Penelope giggled. "The way you say 'freaking beautiful' sounds really cute!"

Natasha blushed and waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, no matter," she said. "Greyson will definitely want you to have this one. And the other one too. Let's go pay for those."

She shook her head vigorously. "Oh, I can't let him pay for these!" she gasped. "These dresses are way to expensive!"

"Again, no matter," Natasha said. She grinned. "Go change and we'll go pay for them!"

Penelope looked down at the dress she was wearing and her insides felt warm and mushy all the sudden. This was the most beautiful dress she had ever had on her body. Not to mention it was the most _expensive _dress she had ever worn. And someone kind was offering to buy it for her. It was all overwhelming.

She just wondered if she would ever have somewhere to wear it.

XXXXX

Derek stepped out of the shower and toweled himself off. He had spent the entire day consumed with thoughts of Penelope. He couldn't help it. They had only one encounter so far in the week she had been living with him. And that one encounter had been, dare he might say it, _magical_. She had definitely surprised him. He had expected her to be frightened of his face and his body. Instead she just wanted him to talk to her.

He had no idea how to talk to a woman.

Sure, he knew how to woo them into bed. But a conversation with them? Not something he knew how to have.

The words she had said resonated with him.

_I think you'll find that I'm not most people..._

"She sure isn't," he said aloud, not even realizing he was talking to the empty room. He shook his head. Why was he acting like this over a woman he had barely even spoken to? He was too chicken shit to do it. He needed to figure out how to have a conversation with her. A proper one.

But he was so petrified she would run.

A knock sounded from the door and he wrapped his towel around his waist. He went towards the door and opened it, thinking it was one of his team members. It wasn't.

It was Penelope.

Her mouth was open as if she were about to speak, but then a fierce, hot pink blush broke out over her face. "Oh!" she squeaked. "Oh, God! I'm -"

Panicked, he slammed the door shut and ran to find a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants. He pulled his hood up and rubbed his forehead. She must have been repulsed by his body. This might very well be a setback.

Reaching for the knob again, he was relieved when he saw that she was still there. She was shocked, but she was still there. He rubbed his hood covered head and said unsteadily, "I'm, uh, sorry about that."

She smiled and he looked for signs that she might falter. But she merely looked embarrassed. Her cheeks were still lit with the bright blush and for a moment they both stood absolutely still. Finally she spoke. "So, I was wondering if you -" She laughed nervously and averted her eyes. "I was wondering if you wanted to...hang out?"

He blinked several times. "Wh - _what_?" he sputtered. "You want to hang out?" He paused again. "With me?"

She nodded. But then her eyes went wide and she said hurriedly, "Only if you want to! If you don't want to, that's cool! I just figured, seeing as I hardly, ever see you around, that maybe you might want to. I mean, you saved my life and I feel like I don't know you at all."

Derek was still stunned. He wanted more than anything to spend time with her. So he nodded, his face unmoving. "Um, sure," he said nervously. Seeing her face fall, he made sure his answer was more solid. "Yes. I - I would love to."

Penelope smiled. "C - cool," she murmured.

**So it's shorter, but hopefully it was okay! Next one is coming soon**


	15. Not Afraid

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Criminal Minds or its characters :(**

**So I'm glad you all liked the last chapter :) If you haven't figured it out yet, that dress is supposed to be the yellow one. Seeing as this is a modern retelling though, a LBD seemed much more fitting. The newest "The Violator" is in the works right now, but it's a little slow going as I'm trying to get it right. It'll be up soon, pinky promise! For now, I hope you enjoy this take on a first date!**

**PS - I'm not gonna lie, but I was really sad when they killed Maeve. Like, sitting on my bed, crying every time I see a GIF of Reid crying over her dead body sad.**

Derek nervously sat down in the library and tugged at the collar of his t-shirt across from Reid . "Okay, genius," he said, forcing Reid to look up from his book. When he wasn't forcing the boys to do schoolwork they didn't want to do, he was still searching for a way to break the curse other than falling in love. "I need your help with something."

Reid cocked a brow at him. "Help with what?" he asked.

"I need to learn how to talk to a girl," he said. "Romantically. Specifically Penelope. You've spent more time with her than I have."

"Why are you asking me?" Reid asked, a smirk covering his lips. "I've had one serious relationship and it ended poorly...to say the least." A ghostly look was cast over his eyes. His girlfriend, Maeve had been killed by a stalker over a year ago. Though he'd only seen her face moments before she was murdered, the two of them had been the epitome of soul mates. Words had been their way of connection and their way to one another's hearts. If there was anyone who could help him with getting to a woman's heart, it was Spencer Reid.

Derek sighed in embarrassment. "Contrary to my former ladies' man status, I actually have no idea how to talk to a woman. Like, _actually_ talk. And you do."

Reid was silent and he knew it was because he was thinking of Maeve. But after a few moments of silence, he nodded. "I might be able to help you."

If the moment hadn't been so solemn, Derek most certainly would have fist pumped the air.

"The first thing I would recommend is actually spending time and talking to her," he said. "Find out what her interests are."

Derek cocked a brow. "She never told you what she likes?"

"Oh, she told me," he said simply. "I'm just making you find out for yourself. It's the best way to show her that you care. If I told you, it would be the easy way. And you need to take the highway."

Derek scowled. "You're just like a teacher at school, you know that?" he said.

Reid just grinned. "I like to think so," he said. "Considering I'm teaching the boys..."

"Well, enough chit chat," Derek said. "Let's get to work."

"Alright," Reid began. "The first thing you want to do..."

XXXXX

Penelope smiled as she zipped up her jacket and stuck a wooly cap on the top of her head. She was going to hang out with Greyson and they were going to the woods again. It seemed to be a sort of safe haven for him and she was fairly sure she understood why. There were no people there and the trees kept him safe.

At least that was her best guess.

Exiting her room, she made her way down the stairs, a slight bounce in her step. She was excited to be doing something. At the bottom of the stairs, she found her mysterious host already waiting for her, locked in conversation with Jackson, the librarian and tutor to the younger boys. Penelope liked him. He seemed like a decent guy. Socially awkward, but likable.

Both men looked up at her and she waved. Jackson smiled, but Greyson just stared at her, his eyes wide. He looked almost frightened. She couldn't help but wonder why. She wasn't _that_ scary.

Was she?

Greyson cleared his throat and asked, "Are you ready to...hang out?"

She nodded. "Whenever you're ready," she said.

"Well, I'll let you two have some fun," Jackson said with a small smile on his lips. He started off in the direction of his library, leaving Penelope and Greyson alone.

Wordlessly, the pair began walking towards the door that led to the garden. When they were outside in the chilly weather, Penelope observed the still alive white roses and murmured, "How do they stay alive in this cold? The roses, I mean."

Greyson shrugged. "I'm going to be completely honest and tell you that I don't know."

"Why white roses?" she asked. "Why do you have a garden full of flowers that represent innocence and love at first sight."

Again he shrugged. "I like them," he said simply.

"Hmm," she said. "Well, you have good taste." They started off on the path towards the woods.

"What kind of things do you like?" he asked. It came out rather rushed, like he was nervous as hell.

She tried to suppress a smile. "Well, when I was, you know, not living here, I was a technical analyst for the FBI. I - and don't laugh - I really love computers." She noticed his probing sideways glance and she added hastily, "But I also like old movies. I'm not completely addicted to my computer where I can't get my ass off of Facebook. Sometimes Ashley and I would have whole marathons of forties films. We'd pop open a bottle of wine, we'd kick back on my couch, occasionally have some Chinese takeout with it."

"Ashley's your best friend then?" he asked.

"Yeah," she murmured. "We've been best friends since high school."

"What about where you work? Do you have any friends there?"

She shook her head. "I'm not close to any of them," she said. She laughed slightly. "You know, it's kind of funny...they weren't my original team. I've had two."

He coughed. "Oh?" They walked along on the path and she tripped on a tree root that was in the way. "Whoa!" he said, holding out his hands and catching her in his arms. She looked up at him and a rush of shocks ran through her body. After a moment too long in his grasp, she straightened to her feet and cleared her throat. They were silent for a moment, but then he asked, "So...you've had two teams. What was that about?"

"Well, they all took other jobs at other places," she explained. "They just...up and left. I don't really know why." For the second time since arriving at the mansion, Penelope found herself thinking about Derek Morgan. Maybe it was the shock waves from him catching her before she fell that reminded her of their handshake, maybe it was the conversation about them she was having with Greyson.

He noticed. "What? What is it?"

She laughed softly. "Well, it might sound silly, but I'm just thinking of one of the team members," she said. "I didn't know him very well, but for some reason he's always kind of been in the back of my mind."

"Who was he?" he asked curiously.

She shook her head. "His name is Derek Morgan. He was kind of a complete asshole." Something flashed across his face and she had no idea what to make of it. But she continued explaining anyway. "But there was something more to him. At least I always felt like that there was more. I thought maybe the whole thing was an act, the womanizing, the snarky attitude. He made me...wonder. That's the best I can say."

He was silent. Then he said, "You felt sorry for him." It wasn't a question.

"A little," she admitted. "But mostly I just thought he was a man who was putting on a show to hide something."

"Maybe you're right," he said. "Maybe he was hiding something."

She shook her head. "Well, I don't think it matters anymore," she said hastily. "I doubt he thought much of me."

"You might be surprised," he said. "I'm sure he thought about you. I don't think you would be easy to forget."

A hot blush crept up her face and all the way to her ears. "Oh," she murmured. "Well, thank you." By now they had reached the clearing where she had first met him and she murmured, "Can we stop for just a few minutes?"

"Of course," he said, sitting down on the ground. He motioned for her to join him.

She sat down and glanced at him. They were silent for a few minutes, the only sounds the slight rustle of the wind and the falling of dead leaves from the trees. She took of her hat for a moment and looked at him again, his hood still up. "Do you want to take your hood off?" she asked softly, her voice extremely gentle.

"No," he said in a whisper.

"I'm not frightened of you," she assured him. "You can be yourself around me."

"You should be afraid of me," he murmured, dejected.

She put a hand on her shoulder. "No," she said. "I shouldn't be. And I'm not." He jumped at her touch and turned to look at her sharply. "If anything you're more afraid of me. You don't have to be though."

He was silent once again and finally pulled his hood down, revealing his face. Averting his gaze in shame, he kept his face down. She sighed and moved to sit in front of him. "Why are you being like this?"

"Like what?" he snapped.

"Like I'm a poison," she whispered. "I've been here for a week and you have done everything in your power to avoid me."

Rising to his feet, he held out his hand for her to take. She grasped it and allowed him to pull her up to her feet. He took her hat from her and pulled it over her head so that it covered her ears. "You're not a poison," he said tenderly. "You're a medicine...you've already started making this place a little brighter." Penelope stared at him in shock and he added, "Come on. Let's go to the lake."


	16. Tis The Season

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Criminal Minds, despite my deepest wishes to own it.**

**Sorry about the delay on this chapter being released! I've been super busy with my job (which I hate, by the way) and I've been packing my room up. But I'm getting it done now :) Thank you for the kind reviews and i hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**In other news, I wanted to let you know what my next fairy tale retelling will be...Sleeping Beauty with JJ as our Aurora and Hotch as our Philip! But that won't be coming until "Beauty" is done.**

_Two Months Later_

"So how much longer do we have?" JJ asked glumly as she carefully stuck an ornament on the huge Christmas tree in the middle of the grand ballroom that hadn't been used since the night Strauss had cursed them. She looked down the ladder at Rossi.

He handed up a sparkly silver ball to her and sighed. "Six months," he said tiredly. His face brightened then. "But at least things seem to be going well with Morgan and Penelope. The two of them have been spending all their time together." He grinned. "I can just see myself being...well, _myself_ again!"

JJ smiled. "You know, I think you might be right," she said, hanging the next ornament on a pine branch. She perked up. "Oh! Did you hear about what he's doing for her for Christmas?"

"No," he said, handing her a ring of tinsel. "Do tell!"

"Well..." JJ proceeded to tell him what Derek had planned for Penelope for Christmas. Seeing his face of shock, she nodded and cocked an eyebrow. "I know, right? Who knew Morgan was such a romantic?"

"Pfft, not me," he said. "That's for sure."

XXXXX

Derek put down his hammer and rubbed his forehead. He was in the west wing of his mansion where he was using one of the vacant rooms to build Penelope a Christmas present. It was fairly clear to him; he was in love with Penelope Garcia. He couldn't help it. She was the kindest, smartest, funniest woman he had ever met. He had even told his mother about her.

"_Derek, am I correct to assume that my only son has finally found a woman he loves?" Fran giggled into the phone._

_Derek snorted. "Mama, I don't know if we should..." His voice trailed off. "Okay. Fine. You win. Yeah...I...I love her."_

_Fran was ecstatic. "Oh, Derek! You have no idea how happy I am for you," she said happily. "I've waited so long for you to find someone who makes you sound like this. Will you ask her to come home with you for the holidays?"_

_He froze. He still had not told Fran that he was trapped in a body that wasn't him. Seeing him like that would give her a heart attack. He had to find an excuse. And a good one. "Oh, Mama, I won't be able to make it this year," he said solemnly. "Penelope invited me to stay with her and visit her family. So I said I would."_

"_You must really love this girl," Fran sighed wistfully. "I'm so happy for you."_

"_Me too," he sighed._

He wished he could see his mother and introduce her to Penelope. But the way he looked, it just wouldn't work.

He started down the hallway and thought about the last few months. Each and every day he had spent with Penelope. And each and every one of those days he spent without his hood down. She gave him the confidence that he didn't need to hide. In some ways he felt more comfortable around her than he did his team. Talking with her, he was able to feel free. He almost wanted to tell her every dark secret he had.

"How's the present going?"

Derek looked up and saw Prentiss coming towards him. He nodded to her. "It's working out," he said. "I'm going to need the next week though. It's got a little way to go."

Emily smiled sweetly at him. "I'm really happy for you, Morgan," she said. "You've come a long way." They started in the direction of the staircase. "Have you told her how you feel yet?"

He looked at her sideways and shook his head sheepishly. "Reid still hasn't told me how I do that yet."

"Oh, please! You don't need to ask Reid," she snorted.

"Yes, I do," he argued. "I haven't a freakin' clue how to tell a girl I'm in love with them. I've never had to do it."

She shook her head. "But you still don't need Reid to tell you how to do it," she said. "You need to do it in a way that is comfortable for you. Reid and Maeve had their own way of showing love. Now, you need your own way to show Penelope you love her."

"Got any wise ideas on how to do that?" he snapped.

She shook her head. "Not in the slightest. That's your job, not mine. _I'm_ not in the one in love with the girl."

"Hi guys!"

Derek about jumped out of his skin when Penelope came out of the corridor that led to the ballroom. In her arms she held a box of Christmas tree lights and she was wearing a short, fire engine red dress. Atop her head sat a green elf's hat. Prentiss beside him smirked momentarily, then raised her hand to wave at Penelope. "Hi Penelope," she said cheerily. "You look...festive." She seemed to struggle to find the right words for her outfit. Despite the fact she had gotten over her initial bitterness, Emily still found Penelope's sense of fashion somewhat difficult to stomach. She liked her, but her clothing taste interesting.

Penelope grinned. "Well, 'tis the season," she said. "We're just decorating the ballroom right now. You guys really should come and take a look at the tree! Marcus and Harrison are having a blast with it."

The warm look in her eyes made Derek's heart melt and puddle in his gut. She looked so happy. Her cheeks were warm and pink, her eyes were glittering, and she was talking easily. He couldn't help it. Penelope being happy made him happy. Her eyes met his and he blushed.

"Greyson?" Emily nudged him in the side and motioned to Penelope. Both of them were looking at him expectantly. It was clear one of them had said something and he hadn't heard it.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Penelope asked you a question," Emily said impatiently.

He looked at Penelope and she blushed. "Oh, well, I was just wondering if you wanted to come see the tree," she mumbled awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "Let's go."

Emily held up a finger. "Oh, Penelope? I'll take that box for you." She held out her hands to take the lights from her.

Penelope smiled. "Oh, thank you." She turned to face Derek and excitedly grabbed his hand. Smiling, she said, "Let's go!"

Derek let Penelope drag him down the hall towards the ballroom that his team had taken the liberty of decorating fully. They'd all vacated the room and he and Penelope were left alone in the room. The room looked magnificent. An enormous tree filled the center of the room and was covered in all manner of decorations. A fire was lit in the fireplace and had the room glowing. Outside the huge windows there was a light blanket of snow covered the ground.

It was beautiful.

He whistled. "Wow." He looked around the room with wide eyes. "Great work, Baby Girl."

She laughed and looked at him oddly. "What did you call me?" she asked.

Derek shook his head. "Oh, sorry," he muttered. "Just a nickname that I thought fit you."

"Baby Girl, huh?" she mused. She smiled. "I like it."

He was silent. After a few moments, he murmured, "I'm glad." The two of them stood in awe of the tree for several moments. What neither of them noticed was that they were still holding hands.

XXXXX

_Christmas Morning_

"Merry Christmas, Penelope!" Ashley said over the phone. It was Christmas morning and the two of them were on their phones with each other. "How's your day going at the fabulous mansion home?"

Penelope smiled as she spoke. "It's going great, Ash!" she said. "I'm having a great time. I know I was apprehensive about it at first, but I love it here."

"Now you've told me all about Greyson," she started, "but is he still treating my bestie well? I don't take too well to people hurting my -"

Penelope laughed. "Relax sweetie," she said. "Everything's fine! Greyson is the perfect gentleman. He's very...well, okay maybe not the perfect gentleman. He's got some problems with his manners. But he's always very attentive to whatever I'm saying."

"Oh, I think he _likes_ you!" Ashley cooed. "That's adorable!"

She snorted. "Please," she said. "I seriously doubt he thinks of me like _that_."

Ashley giggled. "But I suppose my real question is: do you _like_ him?"

Penelope remained silent. If she really admitted it to herself, she would have to say that she _did_ like Greyson. He was...he was a lot of things. She just didn't know how to describe him, even to herself. Nor did she know how to describe her feelings for him.

Yes. She did like Greyson.

She loved him.

But there was no way she would ever tell that to him. He didn't think of her that way. Of this she was positive.

"Your silence is telling me something," Ashley said. "What's with that?"

As Penelope was about to answer her, a knock sounded from her door and Greyson himself poked his head in. He mouthed, "_Ashley_?" to her and she nodded.

"Ash, she said, "I gotta run. Merry Christmas, sweetie!"

"Wait, no! You were just about to confess to me that you like -" Penelope hung up before she could finish.

She rose from her bed and smiled at him. "Hi!" she murmured. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," he said quietly. He looked down at his feet and added, "Will you...will you follow me real quick?"

She nodded. "Sure," she said. She started to follow him and they walked together in silence towards the west wing of the house. He stopped outside a room that she'd never been to. She looked at him. "What is this place?"

"Close your eyes," he murmured. She tilted her head to the side, but closed her eyes anyway. The warmth of his hand covered hers and he began to lead her into the room. "Okay, stop here."

"Can I open my eyes yet?" she asked.

"Just a couple more seconds...okay, now!"

Her eyes snapped open and she gasped at what she saw. She was standing in what appeared to be a 1940's movie theater, complete with movie seats, an old popcorn machine, posters from movies, and an old projector. "Did you make this for me?" she asked breathlessly.

He nodded sheepishly. "Yes," he said. "Yes, I did. Do you like it?"

Tears filled her eyes. "Th - thank you!" she cried happily, throwing her arms around his neck. "This is the nicest thing a friend has ever done for me!" She pulled away from him and smiled. "Really Greyson...thank you. You're an great friend."

His expression was unreadable, but he smiled after a few moments. It was the first time she had seen him smile. And it was a beautiful, heartwarming smile that made her feel warmer inside. "You're very welcome," he murmured, moving a lock of her hair behind her ear.


	17. Beyonce Ain't Got Notin' On Garcie

**Disclaimer: Criminal Minds belongs to a bunch of rich dudes. I am not rich. Nor am I a dude. Well, I'm sure some women have some hands in it, but for the sake of the expression I had to say it.**

**I hope you all liked the Christmas scene :) It was fun to write. I love getting your reviews...it's great to see that you guys like this story. Thank you for all your reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

"Ingrid Bergman was so pretty," Penelope sighed wistfully, leaning back in her spot on the couch. She wanted to sit on the couch rather than the classic movie seats; it allowed her to be closer to Greyson. Of course, she wouldn't tell him that. She merely said she wanted to lounge more than sit in the classic seats.

She and Greyson had just finished watching _Casablanca _in the movie theater he had created for her. Greyson passed her the bucket of popcorn they were splitting and nodded. "Yeah, she was a real hottie," he snickered.

Whacking his arm, she giggled, "No, I'm serious! She's classically beautiful. She's one of the most beautiful women who lived."

He smiled. "She's okay, I guess," he said, putting a handful of popcorn in his mouth.

"Who's your ideal woman then?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow.

He snorted. "Beyonce," he said snarkily.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course," she muttered. "Although, you're right...Beyonce is pretty stunning." She felt awfully jealous though. If his type was a woman with mile long legs and a slender figure, there was no way she stood a chance. She wasn't like that at all. Suddenly she felt uncomfortable, sick to her stomach. The worst part was she felt like she shouldn't be.

He rose from his seat and turned to look at her. "What do you want to watch next?" he asked her, going to switch the reel.

She swallowed hard and mumbled, "Er, how about _Citizen Kane_?"

"Ooh, good choice," he said.

Once the movie was in, he plopped back down on the couch next to her. As the credits were starting, he turned to her and tilted his head to the side. "Is there something wrong?" he asked. "You got very quiet all of the sudden there."

She looked back at him and nodded stiffly. "Yeah," she said a little too loudly. "I'm good. I'm just a little...tired." Gently, he put his hands on her shoulders and started to pull her towards him. Panicked, she pulled back and looked at him with wide, shocked eyes. "What are you doing?"

"You said you were tired," he said. "You can use me as a pillow."

"Oh." A somewhat hurt look was covering his face and immediately she felt terrible. She prayed he didn't think it was because she was scared of him. In the entire time she had been living at his mansion, she knew that he was afraid of her being afraid of him. She didn't want to feed into his irrational fears. She was the farthest thing from scared of him. Nodding, she smiled and leaned back against him, letting her head rest against his strong chest. She had never felt so at ease with someone like this before. Sighing deeply, she snuggled in closer and murmured, "You're comfy, Greyson. Thanks."

His hand was resting on her back and he moved rubbed it gently. "You're welcome, Penelope."

At that moment she just wished he might feel the way about her that she felt about him. It was the only thing that would make it better.

XXXXX

Derek sat quietly on the couch in Penelope's theater, watching the movie on the screen. Against him, she had fallen asleep and was breathing steadily, holding him around the waist. He stroked her hair gently and looked down at her sleeping form with tenderness. The light off of the screen was casting shadows on her face and she looked absolutely beautiful, even in only a pair of jeans and an old sweater.

Looking down at the beautiful woman in his arms, he was reminded of the heartbreak he had felt when she had called him "friend" when he had given her the theater. He had planned on telling her everything...about how he loved her, about how he would do anything for her.

But she had called him "friend."

Everything changed at that moment and he had been forced to abort his plan. He should have known his appearance would prevent him from finding love. And though he still had five months left of his curse's timeline, he would never be able to find another woman. He was in love with Penelope. He realized now he was never going to find anyone else he would love.

He glanced at the clock up on the wall and sighed. It was already one in the morning. He would be wise to move her to her bed. Slowly he rose from the couch and pulled Penelope into his arms, getting ready to carry her to her room. She barely stirred as he started for the door.

He carried her down the hallway towards her room and pushed the door open. Laying her down gently, he pulled the covers over her body and watched as he snuggled into her pillows more. As she did, her mouth drifted open momentarily and her eyes fluttered. She looked up at him and smiled tiredly. "Thanks Greyson," she whispered. And then her eyes closed for good and her breathing evened out.

He smiled and murmured, "Goodnight." And then he leaned down and placed his lips on the top of her head.

XXXXX

Penelope woke to find herself on her bed, sunlight streaming down over her still form. She was lying underneath her covers and was still wearing her clothes from the day before. So Greyson had tucked her for the second time. He seemed to have a knack for doing that. Her fingers wrapped around her blankets and she thought about him carrying her down here from her movie theater. A hot blush crept over her face at the thought of being in his arms. She wished she had been awake for it.

She smiled to herself, then reached for her phone over on the night table. Dialing Ashley's number, she waited while the phone rang to hear her best friend's voice. "Mornin'," Ashley said into the phone.

"Hey Ash," she murmured.

"You sound happy," Ashely cooed. "What's going on?" Penelope was silent a moment too long for her liking and she added, "_Hello_? Earth to Garcie! You got very quiet all of the sudden."

She shook her head and sighed. "Sorry, I was just thinking," she mumbled.

"About what?" She was quiet for another second and then gasped. "Oh, oh, wait! Don't tell me! You kissed Greyson!"

Penelope almost choked on a laugh. "No! I'm not...his type. No, but he did carry me back to bed. I fell asleep in my movie theater."

"What do you mean _your_ movie theater?" she asked. "You bought a movie theater and slept there? What were you watching?"

"No, again," Penelope said. "He built me one in one of the wings of the house. A classic movie theater with everything in it. We had a movie night last night."

"That's so sweet! He built you a movie theater?" she gasped. "That's the most romantic thing I ever heard of. How can you _not_ tell him that you're in love with him now?"

Penelope snickered. "Ashley, he doesn't love me like that," she said, trying to put off the sadness that would set in if she focussed on it too much. "Listen, I don't think you should encourage that. He doesn't love me. At all. In fact, just last night he was telling me his type was Beyonce. If you look at me and you look at Beyonce, you'll realize that there are some huge differences."

"Babe, Beyonce ain't got nothin' on you," she said in a deep voice.

Penelope furrowed her brow and laughed. "_Oh-kay_...well I guess that's one way of putting it."

"I still think you should tell him how you feel, sweetie," she said, her tone turning more serious.

"And I think I shouldn't," Penelope said. "So no. I won't tell him."

Ashley snorted. "Chicken shit."

**Shorter, but I feel as though it's worth it because it's so sweet :) I had fun with it! I hope you had fun reading it.**


	18. Love Me Tender

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Criminal Minds, which makes me very sad. Nor do I own the song "Love Me Tender."**

**I'm so thrilled you enjoyed the last chapter :) I had a ton of fun writing it. I know you're all wanting to see them admit their feelings for one another, but he's not going to be changing back until the end, so it's not really possible for them to admit they love each other without him turning back. So unfortunately it won't happen until the end. I hope you all enjoy this one - it's a little sad and there's another time jump. Please enjoy and thank you very much for your kind reviews :)**

_Five Months Later - One Month Until The Curse Is Up_

Derek was out running by the lake by himself in the morning. Spring had come and the weather was pleasantly cool out for eight o'clock. All the months Penelope had been with them were the best months of his life. He doubted for the majority of his life the existence of true love, but now that he had found it, he could never believe that he was such a fool in the beginning. The only problem now was that Penelope didn't feel the same way about him. At some point he was going to have to figure out how to tell her. He only had one month of the curse left. If he didn't take a chance, he would be stuck the way he was forever, along with his team, who he had come to appreciate in ways he never thought he could. They were his family and had supported him in ways no one other than his mother and sisters would.

If he had some more time, he might be able to save him and his team. Perhaps Penelope might grow to love him. If he told her, maybe it would be a spark of feeling and in a matter of months she would realize mutual feelings

As he made it down to the water, he halted and stared up at the pink and purple streaked sky that was signaling dawn. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Even if Penelope didn't love him, he had to take a chance. If he was left as a hideous monster of a human being, so be it. He would rather be an honest monster than one who bottled his feelings up.

"Good morning, Agent Morgan."

Whirling around, Derek was shocked to find Erin Strauss standing behind him. How the _hell_ did she keep doing that? But how convenient as he had a request for her.

"Hi, Strauss," he muttered. "What the hell are you doing here?"

She smirked and came forward, crossing her arms over chest. "I came to see how you were doing...and how my team's technical analyst was faring. It came to my attention that she was here and I had to find a temporary replacement for her. Do you know how hard it is to find someone who's as good as her? It's near impossible."

Derek stiffened at the mention of Penelope. "Seeing as you're here," he said, "I need to ask you something."

"Fire away," she said. "Whether I agree to help you remains to be seen."

"I need a little more time," he said desperately. "Please. I think I might be able to do this if I have a few more months."

Strauss shook her head. "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do about that. Once a spell is cast, I can't do anything to stop it. And that curse, the only way it can be broken is by the parameters I set up and told you about. There's no time left."

"Please! Change the time length! I love this woman and I think if I told her she might fall in love with me too!"

"No," she said. She tilted her head to the side and her face was almost sympathetic. "I can't change you back unless you get Penelope to tell you she loves you."

He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Well, then change my team back! Let them go back to their lives. Don't make them suffer for what I did."

Strauss observed him for a moment and sighed. "You care about people other than yourself now," she murmured. "That's good. You've become a better person it would seem. Apparently this curse _has_ helped you."

"So will you change them back?" he begged.

"No," she said. "Their return to their true forms is dependent upon your success."

"Damn it!" he growled. "Why can't you help them?"

"Did you not hear anything I just said about magic? You can't do anything but get Penelope to tell you she loves you." She paused before adding, "I'm happy for you and for finding someone you love. You found out that true love exists."

His fists clenched at his sides. "What good does finding out that true love exists do for me if she doesn't love me?" he hissed angrily.

"Why do you think she doesn't love you? Maybe she's just as afraid to tell you that she loves you as you are to tell her," she said cryptically.

"She calls me a good _friend_," he snapped. "And after all these months she's been here, she's never done or said anything that would suggest she thinks of me as anything else."

Strauss laughed. "Have you forgotten everything you knew as a profiler?" she asked.

He glared at her. "Forgive me if I'm a little rusty on behavioral analysis," he said. "Some witch decided she didn't like me and put me and my team in forms that we couldn't do our jobs in."

"So snappy, _Greyson_," she said nonchalantly. "You should calm down."

Looking over at the lake, he grunted. He was going to reply with something snappy about not being able to calm down, but when he turned back around, he saw no one. He shook his head.

"How the fuck does she do that?" he growled, resuming his jog around the lake.

XXXXX

"Natasha, why are you dragging me to my room right now?" Penelope asked. "It's eight o'clock! Not nearly early enough to go to bed."

Natasha smiled knowingly and explained. "Oh, you're not going to bed, Penelope. Me and the rest of the house set up the ballroom for you and Greyson to spend some time in. Do you still have that black dress we got that one time we went shopping?"

Penelope blushed at the thought of the whole house getting a night set up for her and Greyson. She nodded as she and Natasha headed up the stairs. "Yes," she murmured. "I do have the dress. And I haven't had a chance to wear it yet. What kind of night are you guys planning?"

"A good one," Natasha said simply. "My hubby has a really good meal planned, Colin is providing the nice alcoholic beverages. It'll be fun! Leanne and I are going to make you look absolutely beautiful."

She smirked at Natasha's enthusiasm. She seemed absolutely delighted to get Penelope all dolled up for a night with a friend. "Does Greyson know about this?"

"Oh, heavens no!" she laughed. "The boys are taking care of him as we speak though." She opened the door to Penelope's room and they found Leanne already waiting for them, a curling iron in her hands as she stood in front of the vanity table. She looked up at them and smiled, using the curling iron to wave at them.

"I've got the curling iron going and I'm ready to get her hair curled!" she chirped. "Now, we've got about an hour to get her dressed and ready to go!"

Penelope smirked at the smaller woman's delight at helping her get ready for spending time with Greyson. She didn't know why they were so keen on the idea, but she decided to go along with it anyway to make them happy. Sitting down at the vanity, she smiled up at Leanne. "Curl away," she said.

A little less than an hour, Penelope's hair was curled and her makeup was done simply. "Here's the dress!" Natasha said excitedly, stepping out of the walk-in closet with Penelope's dress on the hanger. She unzipped the bag and pulled the dress out, holding it up to the light to admire it some more. "God, this is a great dress. I'm so jealous of your body. I could never wear a dress like this."

Penelope blushed, not quite sure what to say to that.

"Alright," Leanne said hastily. "Go throw this on while we fine you a pair of shoes."

Once Penelope was dressed, she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror momentarily. The girls had curled her hair and then stuck it up, a few lone tendrils falling her face. Her makeup, while simple, was still stunning and she felt like a completely different person. She felt extremely beautiful.

But she also felt like she was going on a date. She hoped Greyson didn't think that was what she was going for. She was deathly afraid he was going to burst out laughing when he saw her.

"You done in there, Penelope?" Leanne called out. "We found a pair of shoes for you."

Sighing and shaking her head at the same time, Penelope reemerged from the bathroom and plastered a huge grin on her face. She was trying to conceal her wounded heart and she hoped her smile was big enough to convince them.

It worked. Both Leanne and Natasha were grinning at her just as brightly, holding up a pair of purple high heels for her. Neither of them looked like they noticed she was hurting. "Those are perfect!" she said happily, going forward over the hardwood floors of her room to retrieve the shoes. She slowly started to slide them on. Once the shoes were completely on her feet, she looked at Leanne and Natasha. "How do I look?" she asked nervously.

"Stunning. Absolutely stunning," Natasha murmured, bringing her hand forward to adjust one of Penelope's loose tendrils of hair.

"Agreed," Leanne said. She clapped her hands together. "Now...let's get you downstairs! You don't want to be late to your date do you?"

Penelope smiled weakly. "No," she mumbled. "I don't."

XXXXX

"I still can't believe you're making me do this," Derek said with a roll of his eye. "I have no idea how to do a date properly anymore. Penelope is nothing like those idiots I dated before."

"Well, at least you can admit that," Hotch grumbled, straightening the collar on Derek's shirt. "And I'm pretty sure Strauss saw that too when she made her little appearance this morning." Derek had told him and the rest of the team all about Strauss' visit to him at the lake that morning. They were all just as pissed as he was that she wasn't able to extend his time. So they had struck out with the idea to force him to tell Penelope right that night just how he felt.

"I don't think this is a good idea, man," he said stiffly. "I don't think she feels that way about me."

Hotch snorted. "Then you're an idiot." He glanced down at his watch and looked back up. "Alright. Time's up. We've gotta get you down to the ballroom."

Derek gulped nervously and nodded. "Fine," he muttered. "I still think this is the worst idea ever."

"So you've said. Now stop talking. We've got to get you down there."

They went downstairs, Hotch schooling Derek on everything that was going to happen. "Now don't worry about the boys. They'll be in bed by then. We're all going to keep an eye on you guys, but we'll be out of your way. If anything goes wrong, you'll be able to get out of there if you need to." Derek nodded and opened the door slightly to the ballroom. "And Morgan?" He turned to look at Hotch. Hotch smiled. "Good luck."

Derek nodded and went in. He looked around the brightly lit room and saw the outdoors through the ceiling high windows. The night sky was covered in stars. It was beautiful. But the most beautiful sight in the room wasn't decor or the nature scenes outside. It was the woman standing under the bright light of the crystal chandelier. Her hair was pulled up, save for a few strands of hair falling down her neck and in her face and she was dressed in a curve hugging black dress. He could see the dip in her dress' neckline and he couldn't help but hungrily stare at her. Instead of her glasses, she had contacts in and she looked absolutely stunning.

She turned around and smiled when she saw him. A smile lit up her face and a bright pink blush glowed from her cheeks. "Hi," she murmured when he crossed the room to her side. "Um, I guess they - I mean the others, set up a night for us." She blushed more fiercely.

He smiled. "Yeah, they did," he murmured.

"Dinner is served!"

Both of them looked behind and saw Declan rolling in with a cart of food towards a table set up for them. Nervously, Derek offered her his arm and she accepted it. "Shall we eat?" he asked.

She bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah."

XXXXX

"That was so delicious!" Penelope said as she and Derek were getting up from the table. "God, Declan is the freakin' best cook I've ever met." She smiled up at him, her cheeks pink again from the two glasses of wine she had had to drink with dinner. "Where did you find him?"

"Er, well, before I -"

But before he could finish, the sounds of Norah Jones singing filled the room and he almost laughed. His team was so obvious. When he looked at Penelope, she was gazing at him expectantly. He froze. Oh God, did she expect him to _slow dance_ with her? He couldn't slow dance properly.

"You don't know how to dance, do you?" she asked, a slight hint of amusement in her eyes.

He shook his head, somewhat ashamed. "No," he said. "I don't."

"That's okay," she chirped. She took one of his hands and placed it on her waist and took the other one in hers. "I'll show you how."

Derek was scared out of his mind. He was holding her in his arms, the song lyrics flowing through the ballroom. She was looking up at him with trust and he felt warm inside all of the sudden. "Okay, so you move like this..."

She began showing him how to do the steps and soon she was saying, "You're totally getting this!"

"Really?" he asked awkwardly.

She nodded up at him and smiled kindly. "Really. See? It's not that hard. You're leading now."

It was true. The two of them were moving completely in sync with one another. It was perfect. He smiled. "You're right. I think I'm getting it!" He was about to open his mouth to say more, but then the strands of Norah Jones' rendition of "Love Me Tender" filled the room, interrupting him mid-speech.

_Love me tender,_

_Love me sweet,_

_Never let me go._

_You have made my life complete_

_And I love you so._

For a moment their eyes locked together and a bridge formed between them. A connection that was so intense started to pulse through his body and he knew that she felt it too as they danced together. The heat of her body was driving him crazy and the jasmine scent of her surrounded him. He couldn't help but hold her gaze and drown in the deep brown depths of her eyes.

_Love me tender,_

_Love me true,_

_All my dreams fulfilled._

_For my darlin' I love you,_

_And I always will._

He knew that the words being sung at that moment were true. He would always love Penelope. She knew things about him that no one else knew and he knew things about her that she had never told anyone else either. Hell, he had told her about Buford and the abuse he had endured as a teenager at his hands and he knew about her pain over her parents death and Brad's attempt at attacking her.

Penelope was perfect.

The song ended and he twirled her in towards him so that she was tucked against his chest. He held his breath and she looked up at him, her eyes shining and her breath coming in shallow bursts. But just when he thought he would stop fooling himself and tell her exactly how he felt, he coughed and murmured, "Do you want to go outside?"

She paused for a second and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Let's do it." Her expression was unreadable, but they started walking towards the door and he couldn't help but feel like a total ass. Maybe Hotch was right. Maybe Strauss was right. Maybe she did love him.

They sat down on the veranda and Penelope sighed, looking up at the sky and staring. He cleared his throat and murmured, "Penelope, are you - are you happy here? With me, I mean?"

She turned to look at him and there was shock in her eyes. "What?" she murmured.

"I was wondering if you were happy," he said hesitantly. "Here, I mean. With...me." Derek had never been more nervous in his life asking this question. He couldn't understand why now one had ever told him that falling in love would be this hard. He prayed he wouldn't see rejection in her gaze when she answered.

More importantly, he hoped she _would_ answer.

A smile spread over her face and she took both his hands in hers, facing him in the process. "Yes," she murmured. "Of course I'm happy!" She smiled and brought one of her hands up to touch his scarred face. "I -"

Suddenly, before she could finish what she was trying to say, Rossi came running out of the ballroom doors, a panicked look on his face. "Penelope!" he yelled.

She dropped her hands and rose to her feet. "Colin?" she asked in confusion. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Derek rose from his seat and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. He had no idea what was going on, but he hoped it wasn't anything too terrible. He took her hand and watched as Rossi looked at her sympathetically. "It's Ashley...she was in a car accident."

**Sorry it was so long! As for the dancing scene, I feel like many writers have Penelope as not knowing how to dance, but I decided to switch it around and have Derek as the awkward slow dancer. Hopefully you liked it though :) **


	19. Letting Go

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Criminal Minds...I say this with deep sadness.**

**Sorry about the cliffhanger! Here's the next one...I got it out as soon as I could. I've had a few people tell me they like Strauss at different points in this story, and I will tell you that I kind of made her that way. Likable that is. Yeah, I thought Strauss was a bitch, but I really love Jayne Atkinson and am sad she won't be making any more appearances on the show. Anyway, I'm glad you like her. She is responsible for getting our two lovebirds together, after all :) Enjoy this chapter and thank you for the kind reviews!**

Penelope's lower lip began to tremble and her eyes started to water. "Ashley was...she was hurt?" she said hoarsely. Colin nodded to her and she rubbed her forehead, trying hard to hold in her tears. "I - I have to get to her. Which hospital was she calling from?"

"She was on her way to visit you as a surprise here and she was T-boned and her car flipped over," he said sympathetically. "She's at St. Thomas'. They had her in surgery. She woke up after to give your name, but then she faded out again."

"I have to get there!" she cried. She turned to look at Greyson and saw his face fall. He looked extremely sad. "Greyson..."

He shook his head and murmured, "Penelope, you should go to her." He looked up at Colin. "Colin, can you take her there?"

She looked at him and her eyes watered. "Greyson, I'm so sorry," she murmured, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I - I have to go. But I'll be back. I promise and -"

Once more he shook his head. "No, it's okay," he said. "Brad shouldn't be coming around. It's been months and no one's said anything. You can - you can go back to your life."

"But I _want_ to come back," she said desperately. "Please, I just have to -"

"No!" he said. "Just go!" And then he started for the doors and disappeared inside.

Penelope tried to follow him. "Greyson, wait!"

Colin put his hand on her shoulder and she looked back at him. "Penelope, let him go," he said with a soft look. "Ashley needs you."

"But he's -" Greyson had looked so heartbroken when he heard the news about Ashley. And the look in his eyes when he had told her to go, like something inside him had just died. It was enough to break her own heart. "Was he serious? Does he not want me coming back?" She couldn't bear the thought of never seeing Greyson again.

"I'm sure he's just upset because he's used to being alone and you're...you're his best friend," he murmured, putting his hand on her back and leading her inside. "I'll take you into town and you can call him when you've seen Ashley. Just give him a little time."

Penelope followed Colin along towards the stairs and wiped her tears from her cheeks. "Al - alright," she murmured. "Let me just get my bag and change and we can go."

Five minutes later she was out of her dress and exiting her room to head back to meet Colin to go to DC to see Ashley. As she was heading towards the stairs, she paused and looked back towards the end of the hall where Greyson's room was. Shaking her head, she hurried towards his room and knocked on his door. "Greyson?" she murmured. "Greyson, can I come in?"

She received no answer.

With more tears streaming down her cheeks, she said, "Greyson, do you want me to come back? Please answer me. I'll come back if you want me to. Just tell me." Silence was all that answered her and she closed her eyes momentarily, unable to handle the pain. It was fairly clear to her that he didn't want her coming back. So without looking back, she sniffled and wept, "Goodbye." Then she turned and walked away, ready to go see her friend.

XXXXX

Derek had retreated to his room after hearing the news about Penelope leaving. He didn't care that he had yelled at her, all he cared about was that he was wounded. That his heart was broken beyond repair. Not only was he losing the woman he loved, he was losing his best friend. The one person who had accepted him without knowing a thing about him or who he really was.

His heart was broken.

Mostly because he knew she was never coming back. Her words at the door made it clear to him that she would only come back if he made her. So he gave her what she wanted: freedom.

He had been so close to telling her. He was almost there, telling her how he felt and how much he loved her and then some twist of fate took her away from him. It wasn't that he didn't want Ashley to be okay. But he wanted Penelope and he wanted to tell her how he felt. That moment outside on the veranda, he thought he had seen it in her eyes too.

It wasn't the case. Not at all.

The moment he heard the sound of the car driving off, he made a hole in the wall. It was the sound of his life ending. With her not coming back, there was no hope of breaking the curse. She was the only one. The only one for him. He remembered the sound of her begging on the other side of the door to talk to her only moments before. It broke his heart to hear it, almost as much as it broke his heart to have her leave him.

But there was a saying that came to mind...if you love someone, let them go.

So that was just what he was going to do. Let go of the one woman who would ever mean more to him.

Suddenly a vicious pounding started at the door, breaking his concentration. He was forced to look up. He knew this time it wasn't Penelope on the other side, based on the ferocity of the pounding.

"Derek Morgan, you open this door right now!"

It was JJ. It was easy to tell by the accent. And she was pissed as hell. He didn't bother answering it. There was nothing to say.

"Derek, I know you're in there," she shouted. "You let me in _now_!"

He rolled his eyes. Sooner or later he would realize that the door was unlocked and anyone could get in at any time. Hell, Penelope could have gotten in if she had turned the door knob. The second after he thought it, JJ turned the knob and entered the room, fuming and pissed as hell. "You son of a bitch!" she yelled. Her eyes were blazing with fury. "How could you let that girl go by herself? Why didn't you go with her to see her friend?"

Glaring at her, he snapped, "JJ, just leave me the hell alone. I'm not in the mood."

"You just let her leave by herself! You had Rossi drive her!"

"Rossi won't let anything happen to her."

She slammed her fist down on a table. "Rossi isn't in love with her and certainly not who she wanted with her while she went to see her best friend who is very hurt! She wanted you to take her. She wants you to be with her. She loves you! _You_ damn it!"

"No...she doesn't," he said. "Just like she never asked me to take her, just like she never asked me to be with her while she goes to see her friend."

"You are the most stubborn, dumbest, _ass_ of a man I have ever met!" she shouted. "You can't possibly think that Penelope wouldn't love you. You saved her life, you kept her safe, you showed her a side of you that no one else has ever seen before. And in turn she opened up to you, she showed you that how you look doesn't matter and that she could love you despite everything, your face and attitude included. Don't tell me that didn't mean anything to her! Don't tell me that that there isn't love!"

He exploded with anger. "No, JJ! Don't _you_ tell me anything! Don't try and tell me what Penelope would want because you are not her!" He began to pace. He ended up at the window. He placed his hands on the windowsill and held it so tightly his skin tightened over his knuckles.

"What are you so afraid of?" JJ asked, her voice getting softer and more sympathetic.

He shook his head. "Everything," he muttered. "I love her. I've never loved any woman and the fact that she is making me feel like this, like I'm completely empty without her, it scares the living hell out of me. And without her, we're never going to be who we really are. I can't love anyone else. It's only her. It will only ever be _her._"

"Don't let her get away then," she murmured. "You can still see her. Show her the man she knows you can be. Tell her."

After a few moments of silence, he turned around and looked at her. The broken look on his face was blatantly obvious. JJ saw the hurt and broken heart all over his face. It was enough to bring tears to her own eyes. Morgan was feeling the pain of Penelope's absence worse than anyone else could ever imagine. He was just holding it back. Finally, he spoke. "She's not coming back. She doesn't love me. It's that simple." He looked down at her and added, "Now please...leave me alone."

XXXXX

_St. Thomas Hospital_

Penelope hurried into the hospital after being dropped off by Colin.

"_Will you please tell him to call me?" she begged. The whole ride to DC she had been silent, but her cheeks had remained wet. She was fairly confident that he had heard the sniffles, but she didn't care. She was too upset. Upset about Ashley being hurt, upset about Greyson's dismissal of her. There was nothing she could do but sit and watch it all happen in front of her. "Please...I just want to know if he's okay."_

_Colin nodded as he sat in the driver's seat. "I'll tell him," he murmured. And then she got out of the car and started for the door._

"I'm here to see Ashley Seaver," she told the nurse as she walked into the ER. "She was just in a car accident. She called me."

The nurse nodded and stood. "Yes, of course," she said. "I can take you to her now. She's been in and out since she got out of surgery. There's no guarantee she's awake right now. Her mother went to a hotel, but Ms. Seaver was asking for you."

Penelope followed her towards the hospital room and was relieved when she looked in to see Ashley awake. She thanked the nurse and hurried in, sitting down in the chair next to her best friend's bed. Ashley's face and visible skin was covered in bruises and she had casts on her left arm and left leg. Fresh tears filled her eyes and she took Ashley's good hand. "Oh, Ash," she croaked.

Ashley tried to give her a good natured smile. "Hey sweetie," she said. "How ya been?"

"Don't ask me too much about me," she murmured. "Just focus on staying calm. You have to get better now."

"Eh, I don't see myself getting too riled up," she said.

Penelope wiped tears from her face then looked at Ashley more seriously. "How long do you have to be in here?"

"They haven't told me yet," she muttered. "Where are you going to stay?"

"I'm gonna head back to my apartment when you fall back asleep," she answered. "Then I'll come back."

Ashley smiled softly. "Did Greyson come with you?" she asked, trying to wink. She failed miserably.

Instantly Penelope began to feel queasy. She couldn't even here his name without feeling unsteady and unhinged. Her heart started to beat faster and shook her head. "No," she said hoarsely. "He didn't." Seeing her best friend's questioning gaze, she added, "He - he let me go."

"Why though? I thought he loved you," Ashley said with a pout.

Penelope bit her lip and wiped away more tears. "For a moment, I thought he did too," she whispered. But then she shook her head. "I don't want to talk about Greyson now. Right now we just need to focus on making you get better." She squeezed her hand gently. "That sound okay with you?"

Sighing, Ashley nodded. "Okay."

**This one made me a little upset even just writing it :( Please review!**


	20. Separation Makes The Heart Wither

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Criminal Minds.**

**Sorry the last one was sad...I appreciate the reviews and reading. You guys bear with me and I'm so glad. It makes me happy that you guys enjoy the story. I hope you all will like this one! We've got some more angst in store, so I apologize in advance for that. Derek's going to be pretty sad for a while and Penelope's going to be completely confused. Well, here it is! Chapter 20! Enjoy :)**

_2 Weeks Later_

"Really, Penelope, I think I'll be okay," Ashley groaned as Penelope brought her a plate of chicken nuggets. "You don't have to keep bringing me food. The hospital did give me a wheelchair, you know?"

Penelope shook her head. "No, no," she said. "You are my patient until you are well again." She was insistent. But even though her heart was in taking care of her friend, she felt completely empty. Each and every time she tried to call Greyson, it went straight to voicemail. She spent at least two night crying, but then she was all dried up. It was official. He never wanted to see her again. She continually got ahold of Natasha, but each time the news was the same; it got worse with each time they spoke.

"_How is he?" Penelope asked as she and Natasha spoke over the phone. "Is he okay? He keeps ignoring my calls."_

_Natasha sighed. "He's sad. He misses you."_

_Penelope snorted. "He has a funny way of showing it," she said with a sniffle. "He hasn't answered his phone once when I call."_

"_Greyson doesn't know how to show when he's hurting," she said. "You know that better than anyone, sweetheart." Penelope was silent. Natasha was right; she _did_ know Greyson better than anyone. And just like he hid his face, he hid his feelings. "He feels things deeply, but the only time he ever shows them is when he's with you. I've known him for a great many years, and I can speak honestly."_

_She stayed silent. She didn't know what to say. But all she could think about was Greyson and how much she missed him._

"What movie do you want me to put on?" Penelope asked Ashley.

Ashley dipped one of her chicken nuggets in some ketchup. "Hmm," she mused. "How about _Casablanca_?"

Penelope balked at the request. She didn't think she would be able to handle watching the movie that she and Greyson had watched the night he had carried her to bed. It was too much. Ashley noticed her hesitation and looked up at her sympathetically. "Sweetie, we don't have to watch it if you don't want to. Something tells me it means a little more to you than you're saying." Tears started to rise in her eyes and Ashley took her hand. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Penelope wiped her some of her tears and mumbled, "What's to tell? I'm just..." She couldn't even finish the sentence. She was heartbroken. That was all she could pinpoint her feelings down to. And just like that, she began to sob. Huge, wet tears poured down her cheeks and wrenching sobs escaped her throat.

"Oh, Penelope," Ashley murmured, pulling her friend into her arms. She rubbed her back and added, "Just let it out."

"This hurts so much," she wept. "Why won't it go away?"

"It might not," she murmured. "It'll dull down over time, but it might never go away."

Penelope wiped her face again. "Do you think there's only one person for you in the world? That there's no one else but that person for you?"

"Maybe," she said. "You won't know until you try telling him how you feel."

"I can't tell him anything if he doesn't want to see me," Penelope sniffled. "And right now I seriously doubt there will be a chance to tell him."

"Have a little faith. You might be surprised. Maybe you will get your chance. In fact, I'm confident you will."

XXXXX

After Penelope had helped Ashley into her guest bed, she went back to her own bedroom and flopped herself down on her bed. She picked up her phone. It was only eleven o'clock. She knew, since Greyson had trouble sleeping most nights, he was probably show up. She was going to try and call him. It was most likely futile, but she had to try.

Not surprisingly, it went straight to voicemail: _"You've reached Greyson Kent...leave a message."_

Sighing, she said hoarsely, "It's me again." She paused to rub her face and wipe her tears that were silently flowing down her cheeks. "Greyson, I don't know what I did wrong...to make you upset with me and not want to see me. I...I miss you. I just want to hear your voice and know that you're okay. Please call me."

Then she hung up the phone, grabbed her pillow, and curled up into a fetal position. And then she began to cry again, huge wracking sobs taking over her body.

XXXXX

A knock sounded from the door to Derek's bedroom and he called, "Come in."

The door opened and JJ entered the room. He looked up at her from his bed where he was laying. He felt weak, physically drained. Two weeks had passed since Penelope had left and he had essentially thrown his phone in the trash, sticking it in a drawer and refusing to answer it. He knew she was calling JJ and talking to her, but he never asked what they were talking about. It hurt too much.

"Hey, you," JJ said, sitting on the edge of his bed like a mother watching over her ill child. "How you feeling?" She knew Derek was both emotionally and physically hurting. The worst part was she had no idea how to help him.

He grunted, squeezing his eyes shut. He kept the room dark as light hurt his eyes. He had become a recluse again. "I've been better," he finally said. Sitting up, he looked at JJ more head on. "Listen, JJ," he said. "I'm really sorry about everything. I'm sorry that because of me you all are stuck in these forms and probably will be. I'm sorry that I've been a dick for the whole year. I'm sorry for the way I treated you all before this curse struck." He rubbed his temples. "I'm sorry about everything."

JJ took his hand and forgiveness covered her features. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I know you are," she murmured. "We all know you are. But you shouldn't give up all hope. I've talked to Penelope on the phone and she misses you terribly. It's like a hole was torn in her heart. It's just like what's happening to you. Only you're becoming physically sick. You're running yourself into the ground. You constantly run in the woods and exercise until you can hardly stand. You're only hurting yourself." She patted his hand this time. "As your friend, I just want to see you okay. Please don't hurt yourself."

"I'm not trying to," he said gruffly. "It's just...the only thing I can concentrate on is..._her_. That and the fact Strauss refuses to give me more time to figure this out and the fact that she refuse to help you and the others by making you yourselves again." He paused. "I tried. But I failed. The bitch won't do it...something about magic not being able to be reversed." He coughed and rubbed his face. "Do you think I could get some sleep? I'm feeling pretty awful again."

"Of course," she said. "If you need anything...I mean it, _anything_, just let me know." She rose from her seat and started for the door, leaving him alone in the darkness of his room. His eyes began to close and he fell into a deep slumber, one where he could dream of Penelope.

**Sorry it's so short and sad :( PLEASE REVIEW!**


	21. Tell Her I Love Her

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds...just the plot bunnies.**

**Okay, so here's the next chapter. I wanted to thank you all for your reviews...I'm glad you're all pissed at Derek. Trust me, I am too. This is just the direction my muse decided to take. More on Derek in this one and a return of an old enemy. ENJOY AND PLEASE REVIEW!**

_1 Week Later_

Brad sat in his rental car outside Penelope's apartment building. He had been waiting for months for her to return and now she finally had. He wanted revenge. Brutal revenge. And he mostly wanted it against the man who had saved her, not once, but _twice_ from him. Based on the way he had protected Penelope, he knew there was something more there. She may not have known who he was, but he certainly knew who she was.

There was the possibility that she would call the police, but no one came for him. She had taken his threat seriously. The fear she had displayed when he tried to kill her months before gave him a rush. It was exhilarating. The feeling was the same one as when he had rammed his car into Ashley's and before fleeing the scene before anyone could react. One might consider him a sociopath. He felt absolutely nothing. Except for maybe satisfaction.

He watched as Penelope exited the building, a worried expression on her face. She hurried to her car and started it, backing out of its parking spot and speeding down the street. He grinned maniacally and started his own engine, tailing her to wherever she may be headed.

XXXXX

"I don't care if he's upset!" Rossi shouted as he and the rest of the team were gathered in the kitchen one night. "He needs to go to DC and tell Penelope how he feels so this curse will be over! We've only got a week left!"

Emily rolled her eyes and muttered, "We all know that, Rossi. We've got a calendar telling us this." She gestured to the calendar stuck to the fridge that reminded them they only had one week left before Memorial Day.

"Shut up, Prentiss," he growled.

"Excuse me?" she snapped.

JJ went up behind them and knocked them both upside their heads. "Knock it off, both of you!" she said. "This is helping no one!"

"No..._Morgan _is helping no one," Prentiss said snootily. "He's just laying in bed when he should be breaking the curse!"

Reid shook his head. "Guys, I've been up to visit him...JJ has too," he said softly. I don't think this is a matter of being lazy. I think - I think he's really ill. I don't want to say it because it's not possible, but it might be from a broken heart. Maybe he -"

"Do you think the spell is draining his life?" Hotch asked gravely. "Would Strauss really kill him?"

"I don't know what it is, but the last time I saw him he looked God awful," he reported. "He was pale, sweaty, clammy. The lot of it. He's so weak he can't even lift a glass of water."

JJ paled. "Oh my God," she murmured. "Is he - is he _dying_?"

Reid was silent for a moment. "I - I don't know. It could just be a bug, but this seems different."

"We need to get Penelope here, right away," Prentiss said. "It may be the only thing we can do to fix this."

JJ nodded. "I'll call her."

Hotch started for the door to the grand entrance. "I'll go see Morgan," he said. "I want to check on his condition. Reid, will you come with me?"

Reid nodded. "Of course," he said hastily, going to follow him.

The two of them made it up the stairs and knocked on the door to Derek's room. A very hoarse "come in" was called out and Hotch and Reid exchanged worried glances. Hotch turned the door knob and opened it into the room. The whole room was dimly lit and they looked towards the bed where Derek was lying on the bed. He tried sitting up, but wasn't able to. "Hi guys," he said with a hoarse voice. "What's up?"

"We came to check on you," Reid said delicately. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a ton of bricks is weighing me down," he said. "Weak. Chilly. Feverish."

They went to his side. Reid sat in the chair and Hotch stood with his arms crossed. "What can we do?" Hotch asked. "Other than get you medicine."

"JJ already tried giving me food, water, and medicine," he said. "We should just face it...I'm not getting any better. It feels like I'm...not to sound cliche or anything, but like I'm dying. So I need you to do me a favor."

"No, no," Reid said with a vigorous shake of his head. "You'll be fine. So we don't have to do any favors for you because you'll be able to take care of it yourself."

Derek laughed. "Reid, you're wrong," he said. "So I need you to do two things for me. Tell my mother and my sisters that it will be okay and that I thought about them until the end. Then, I need you -" He coughed loudly and a small amount of blood dribbled down his chin. "Then I need you to tell Penelope that I love her. And I need you to tell her how _much_ I did. Tell her everything that I didn't and that I was too scared to tell her." His face was dead serious. "I mean it, Reid. I want you to do that for me."

Seeing the severity of his condition and the plea in his eyes, Reid nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I'll do it."

"Promise?"

"I promise," he said sadly.

XXXXX

"Natasha?" Penelope said when she answered her phone. Her voice was desperate and she knew she sounded that way. But she didn't care. She wanted to know if anything had changed with Greyson. Next to her Ashley looked up at her and she mouthed, _Everything okay?_ Penelope nodded. "What's going on?"

Natasha's voice was shaking as she spoke. "Penelope," she sniffled. "I - I don't know how to tell you this, but..." Her voice trailed off and she started to cry on the other side of the line.

Penelope's gut dropped and she covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, God, what is it?" she said with fright.

"It's Greyson," Natasha said. "He's very sick."

Tears filled Penelope's eyes and Ashley looked at her with wide eyes. "What is it?" she whispered, trying to find out what Penelope was hearing over the phone. "Is everything okay?"

Penelope held up her hand to quiet her and said, "Natasha, what is happening with him? Please tell me he's okay!"

"I can't tell you that," Natasha said. "I'm so sorry Penelope. He's really sick. You - you should come see him."

"I'm getting in the car in five minutes," Penelope said, tears filling her eyes. "I'll be there as fast as I can."

Natasha sighed. "Drive safely," she murmured before hanging up the phone.

"Sweetie, what's the matter?" Ashley demanded worriedly. "Is something wrong with Greyson?"

Penelope nodded dumbly. "He's sick," she said in a terrified voice. "Natasha said I need to come see him...which makes me think..." She couldn't even continue her sentence. The words would be too painful to even utter. "I have to go see him," she murmured, looking to her best friend. "Do you think you'll be okay here by yourself?"

"Absolutely," Ashely said firmly. "I'll be fine. Just go see him. Make him better."

Penelope looked at her gratefully and rose to her feet. She slid into her shoes and grabbed her keys, rushing out the door. "I'll call you on my way back."

"Stay safe, sweetie!" Ashley called as she headed out the door.

Swiftly, Penelope hurried down the stairs and rushed towards her car. She had to get to Greyson as quickly as possible. She would drive ninety miles an hour if she had to. By the way Natasha was talking it sounded like he was dying. The thought settled in her gut and she felt physically ill all of the sudden. What if he _was_ dying? Unconsciously her eyes filled with tears and she hurriedly wiped them away. She unlocked her car and slid in, starting the engine without a moment's hesitation. Pulling out of her parking spot, she sped down the street, hoping to be at the mansion sooner than the normal time it took to get there.

Forty minutes later, after driving like a maniac over the highway, she pulled into the long driveway. A vicious rainstorm had begun to pour down and she cursed. Thunder and lightning. Not exactly the weather she wanted for such a terrible moment. As she was pulling up slowly, squinting through her windshield to see through the pounding droplets, her car was suddenly shaken viciously and she let out a scream. Another car that had turned its headlights off rammed into her and sent her spiraling off the driveway. She slammed on her brakes, but she couldn't stop her car from slamming into the tree in front of her.


	22. At Death's Door

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Criminal Minds.**

**Sorry about the cliffhanger. I know that was kind of freaky, but I will quell your fears by telling you this is a very finale-like chapter. It's rather dramatic if I do say so myself. Hopefully you all will like it. I do appreciate your reviews and support with this story! I hope you enjoy this chapter and PLEASE REVIEW!**

"Oh my God," Penelope groaned in the airbag that had just deployed in her face. Her skin was stinging and her glasses were haphazardly sitting on her face. "What the hell?" The whole front end of her car was smashed in and she rubbed her bruised forehead. The storm was raging outside and a flash of lightning struck across the sky. Whoever had hit her had raced up the rest of the driveway and she had a grave feeling that he was there to harm someone. Pushing the door open, she stepped out of the car into the pounding rain. Almost instantly, she was soaked to the bone. She staggered up out of the ditch and onto the driveway.

Hurriedly, she started up the drive and worked towards the mansion. She had to make it to warn them about whatever was coming their way. Rather, whoever.

She had to stop them, whoever they were. As fast as she could, she started up the driveway, alternating between running and walking, depending on how well she could see outside of her glasses.

XXXXX

Brad turned off his car at the entrance to a courtyard. So this must have been where Penelope was for all the months she had been gone. And he was fairly sure the bastard who had ben there to protect her before was the one who lived here. Pulling his gun out of the back of his pants, he jogged through the rain up to the door and slowly opened it to a darkened atrium. He crept to another door, this time one that led to a huge grand hallway, also dark. The place was somber, almost deserted. He shook his head. So she had been living the good life.

Apparently this guy was a rich bastard who was giving Penelope whatever she wanted.

Not having any idea where this guy might be, he started for the grand staircase. It was late at night. Maybe he was in bed.

He slid his way of the steps and walked towards the end of the hallway where he saw a set of double doors which he assumed led to a master bedroom. The hall was completely dark and he had to squint to see well enough. As he was halfway down the hall, he was suddenly tackled from behind. He fell to the ground with a groan ad turned around to see a bruised Penelope glaring down at him.

"You son of a bitch!" she hissed, raking her nails across his face. "You thought it would be fun to wrap my car around a tree?"

"Hey, Babe," he said, pushing her off of him and rising to his feet. "Long time no see." He pushed her up against the wall and pressed his forearm against her throat, cutting off her air supply. She choked and he chuckled. "I finally got you, you _bitch_!"

Her hands scratched at his arm and struggled against him. By now she was having great difficulty breathing. "Get off of me!" she hissed.

"Make me," he growled.

XXXXX

Derek held his pillow tightly and kept his eyes shut. He was just listening to the sounds of the storm going on outside. He really did feel like death was coming towards him. And the light at the end of the tunnel was Penelope. All he could think about was her. She had become his life. She was life itself to him. With her gone and out of his life, there was no point in continuing on. At one point he fell asleep and his dreams were consumed with her.

_He was sitting in the middle of the woods, in the clearing where he had first met her. The sun was going shimmering through the trees and casting light off of her body. Her head was thrown back and her eyes were closed, a light smile playing up on her lips. When she opened them, she looked over at him and grinned._

"_What are you looking at?" she asked._

_Laughing, he murmured, "You. You're beautiful."_

_She smiled at him and rose to her knees, crawling closer to him. "So are you," she said sincerely, both of her hands reaching up to cup both of his cheeks._

_He shook his head. "No, I'm not," he said gravely. "I'm heartless. The only good thing about me is you." He reached his own hand up and touched her face._

"_You're the most beautiful man I have ever met," she told him. "I mean that in every way possible."_

"_But my face," he said. "It's hideous."_

_She shook her head. "No," she said. And then she placed her lips to his and kissed him. He wrapped his hands around her neck and pulled her closer to his body, tangling his fingers in her hair. And slowly he felt his face begin to change. The scars started to fade and his gashes disappeared. She held him tightly and pulled away, resting her forehead against his. Pulling away, she said, "See? You...are...beautiful." And then she pulled up a mirror and showed him his reflection._

_He was himself._

_He was Derek Morgan once more._

But then he woke up and the dream was over. The curse was still there, his face was still ugly. Opening his eyes, he looked outside. The rain was pouring down viciously and lightning was striking across the sky. A boom of thunder rang out. Just the weather to fit his mood.

Out of nowhere though, he heard the sound of someone shouting in the hallway.

"You son of a bitch! You thought it would be fun to wrap my car around a tree?"

He knew that voice. He would know it anywhere. It was Penelope. And she sounded panicked. His senses went into overdrive. She sounded like she was in danger.

"Hey Babe," another voice said. "Long time no see." Oh God. It was Brad. Somehow he had got here. "I finally got you, you _bitch_!" Then he heard the sound of someone getting thrown up against a wall.

Weakly, he sat up. Strength began returning to his limbs. He had to get to her side to help her. Rising to his feet, he staggered across the floor, falling to his knees. Gritting his teeth, he tried to get to his feet. He stumbled a few times before falling into the door. With shaking hands, he pulled the door open. In the hallway he found Brad with his arm holding Penelope to the wall. Both of their eyes shot to him.

"Greyson!" Penelope cried.

Brad slapped her across the face and pushed her to the ground. He turned to face Derek and he grinned wickedly. "So Ugly's name is Greyson," he laughed. He grabbed Penelope by the hair and yanked her up. Putting his gun to her temple, he stared Derek down.

Breathing heavily, Derek leaned against the wall and gasped out, "Let her go! Please! I'll do whatever you want!"

He shook his head and laughed, forcing Penelope to her feet. He hissed in her ear, "Lover boy seems to love protecting you more than anything else."

"Get away from her," Derek growled weakly. He stumbled forward and grasped at the wall, knocking one of the pictures off the wall.

"Oh...you not feeling well?" Brad asked with a pout of his lips. "You look a little ill there, _pal_." He tightened his grip on Penelope's scalp. She clenched her teeth in pain, her eyes meeting Derek's. He started pushing her forward towards Derek. Throwing her into the wall again, her head hit the lining of the wall and she groaned in pain. Derek moved to run to her side, but Brad pointed the gun at him. "Tut, tut, Greyson," he said. "Don't go any closer to her. You do, I blow your brains out."

Penelope shook her head and tears began pouring down her cheeks. A trail of blood was slithering down from a head wound. "No! Brad, stop! Leave him alone!"

As if his strength was being pumped back into him, Derek shook his head and ground out, "This ends now." And then he lunged forward to throw himself on top of Brad, knocking the gun out of his grasp.

XXXXX

Penelope's head was spinning from the knock to the head Brad had given her. However, right in front of her were Brad and Greyson fighting. She rubbed her face and crawled forward. "Stop!" she shouted. "Let him go, Brad!"

Wondering where any of the others were, she looked around for something to use as a weapon. Greyson looked so weak when he came out of the room that she didn't think he would last long. She had to help him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a vase sitting on the table in the middle of the hallway. If she could just get to that, she would be able to knock Brad out. Slowly, she crawled towards the table and reached her fingers up to grasp the vase in her hand.

Behind her, the sounds of fighting was filling the hallway. Greyson got a punch to the nose and a sickening crack rang out. Her heart died. He was being hurt and he was having a hard time getting any hit in at all. Being sick was making him weaker than he had ever been and his usual strength became obsolete. Brad landed another hit and Greyson fell backwards, his head hitting the ground with a thud.

"Greyson!" she cried.

"Say goodbye, Greyson," Brad laughed as he retrieved his gun.

"No!" Penelope screamed. Lifting the vase, she launched the vase towards Brad's head and let it sail into the back of his skull. Groaning, his head fell forward and despite it, his gun went off, sending the bullet straight into Greyson's chest. And though Brad slumped over, unconscious, Greyson's eyes went wide and a gush of blood pumped out of his wound.

"Oh, God!" she wept. Running to his side, she dug into her pocket and produced her cellphone, dialing the nine one one. Once she had gotten help, she tossed her phone aside and began to put pressure on his wounds. "Hang on there, Greyson," she cried, blood seeping through her fingers. "You're going to be okay!"

At the end of the hall, the household staff had come to a screeching halt. "Oh God," Leanne gasped. "We were all coming upstairs to go to bed and we heard a shot!"

"Brad shot Greyson!" Penelope wept. She looked down at him and murmured, "We're going to be okay. Don't worry." Her tears began falling onto his body and she touched his face briefly. "Help is coming. I called someone to help."

He shook his head weakly. "It's too close to my heart," he said weakly. "I'm losing too much blood."

She shook her head. "Don't talk like that," she whispered. "You'll be fine. I'm back now, we're together again. I won't let you die!"

Laughing weakly, he grunted, "I'm - I'm so glad you're back. I missed you...so, so much."

She touched his face with one hand and murmured, "I missed you, too. But don't worry. You'll be okay. The doctors will be here and they'll fix you up in no time."

"I'm just glad I got to see you...one last time," he coughed weakly. His hand reached up to touch her face and he moved a lock of hair behind her ear. But his hand dropped again and his eyes closed. His breathing stopped and his chest quit rising.

He was still.

Her heart shattered in her chest. This couldn't be happening. "Wh - what?" she gasped. "No!" Her hands moved from his wounds and she fell against his chest, bawling the whole time. "Please don't leave me," she wept. "Please! You _can't_ leave me." Pressing her lips to his lifeless ones, she whispered, "I love you."

**So...what did you guys think?**


	23. My Baby Girl

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of this brilliant show.**

**So I just finished moving into my dorm room and with college starting soon I wanted to let you all know my updates may not be as often as they have been in the past. I'm sorry about that :( But I am still fully committed to keep writing for you guys. These and my novel. I'll still work on them. Pinky swear it.**

**Sorry about that last chapter being so mean. I kind of wanted to leave it there though because...well, it worked. Didn't mean to freak you out. That was unintentional. Thank you for the kind reviews! I very much appreciate them. Hope you will enjoy this chapter...it's significantly happier.**

As Penelope wept, the team watched in shock. Derek was dead. It seemed so unreal to them. Denial began to set in. No. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be. But no one could deny the nonmoving state of his body. No breathing, no movement. Nothing. Penelope's cries echoed through the hallway and soon JJ and Emily were wiping their eyes.

"No!" Penelope cried. "Please Greyson, you can't leave me! You can't leave." She was lying across his chest, holding his body. Her chest was stained with his blood and her face was soaked with tears. "Please..." She kept begging, but it was to no avail.

But before anything else happened, a pulsing light began to grow in the hall around Derek's body. The team watched in shock as the light started to spread towards them. Penelope started to look up and her eyes grew wide with fright. The light began to grow more intense and suddenly Penelope was forced to back away. She slid back against the wall and watched in terror as his body was consumed with light. The rest of the team was soon covered in the blanket of bright light and they were frozen in place.

"What's going on?" Penelope's panicked cry came. "Guys?"

Their voices were paralyzed as well. They tried speaking once again, but their mouthes weren't moving. All of them felt their bodies begin to change and their skin started to stretch. Rossi's body started to slim down and Emily began to grow taller. JJ's hair started turning its normal honey blonde and Hotch's face lost its age while Reid became less and less like Heath Ledger. Will's hair was returning from fire red to its usual brown. Though the younger boys were not present, they could only assume that they were changing back as well.

Suddenly the light began to fade. They all looked around and saw Penelope's frightened face. She looked at them with fear on her face. "Yo - you are -?" And then she looked towards Derek and her mouth dropped open to the floor. The team looked towards his body and gasped.

It was Derek, his handsome face restored. His bullet wound was gone and he gasped back to life. His eyes were wide and he looked around frantically, as if not familiar with his surroundings. Then recognition filled his face and he looked to Penelope, nothing but love and adoration coming from his eyes.

The curse was broken.

They were free.

XXXXX

Penelope watched in horror as a bright light enclosed itself around both Greyson and the rest of the household. She looked around wildly, too frightened to get up. None of them were screaming in pain, so she assumed they weren't in pain. That didn't stop her from being scared out of her wits.

"Guys?" she yelped. "Are you okay?" No one answered her. "Natasha? Jonathan? Anyone?" The light continued to whirl around them all and she pushed herself up against the wall, afraid that if the light touched her she would somehow be burned. It looked white hot and she kept herself glued to the edge of the hallway to protect herself from whatever it was. Her emotions, along with the light, were spiraling out of control. Between the death of Greyson and the unnatural occurrence happening right before her eyes, she was crying uncontrollably from confusion and grief. Nothing was making sense to her. What was happening shouldn't have been possible.

So why was it happening?

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the light began to fade, around both Greyson and the rest. And what she saw was most definitely impossible. Before her stood the former agents of the Behavioral Analysis Unit: Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Spencer Reid, Jennifer Jareau, and a man she assumed to be JJ's husband.

She began to stutter, but her tongue was essentially lost. How the _hell_ had this happened? Was she hallucinating?

And strangest of all: when she looked down at where Greyson was supposed to be, she saw Derek Morgan instead. His eyes shot open and he was gasping for air. But he looked healthy. There was no bullet wound on his chest, just blood from where it had gushed. He looked directly over at Penelope and sat up, his eyes boring into hers. Then he smiled. She just stared at him with shock written all over her face. She looked between Derek and the rest of the group, then did the same once more. "Wh - what?" she stammered. "How?"

"Penelope," Derek murmured, moving closer to her. He looked her directly in the eyes. "Penelope, it's me. _I'm_ Greyson."

"But - no, no! You're not him! You could never be him! Greyson is kind and he doesn't act like he's on top of the world or the greatest asshole to walk the planet!"

He shook his head. "Penelope, please," he pleaded.

She shook her head viciously. "No, there's nothing to say!"

JJ interrupted. "Penelope, it's true," she said gently. "Everything he's telling you is true. I was Natasha." She smiled gently. "It's really us. I swear it to you."

Derek looked up at his team and asked, "Can you guys give us -"

Hotch nodded. "Yes, absolutely," he interrupted. He glanced at the rest of the ecstatic team and started to point them in the direction of the stairs. "Everyone, let's go." He started herding them down the hall and Penelope was quiet the whole time, still pressed up against the wall. Once the group of them disappeared, she looked back at Derek. She was almost positive she was having a major hallucination. Maybe a really fucked up dream.

He was still looking at her and she took a moment to drink the sight of him in. He was just like the handsome man she had met the year before; the same beautifully crafted face, the smooth goatee, the sparkling eyes that had a twinkle to them. But then she looked more closely into his eyes. They were the same dark chocolate color as Greyson's. They were the exact eyes the man she loved had.

Hesitantly she put her hands up to touch his face. It was smooth, save for the soft hair of his goatee. He sat perfectly still in front of her as she inspected him. Her hands ran over his smooth head and then she grasped both sides of his neck. Tears filled her eyes and a relieved smile covered her face.

"You're - you _are_ Greyson," she murmured. It wasn't a question. She knew for sure now. There was no doubt. Eyes never lie, and his spoke the truth.

He nodded. Both of them were kneeling front of each other on their knees and he ran a hand through her hair. "It's me," he assured her.

With happy tears running down her cheeks, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him to her tightly. "I can't believe it's really you," she whispered in his ear. "And you're okay. It's like nothing happened to you!"

"I know," he whispered against her neck.

She pulled away from him and touched his cheek. "I love you," she said firmly. "I thought you were dead when I said it the first time, but now I sure as hell want you to hear it."

"I love you too," he murmured back. And then he gently touched her lips with his. At first it was gentle, but then she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pushed her tongue past his teeth, savoring the taste of him. It was magical, that first touching of their lips. Penelope's heart began to race at rabbit like speed and tingles ran through her body like wildfire. It was the most perfect experience of her life. And judging by the way he was holding her, it was for him to. When they finally broke apart, their foreheads rested against the other's and their eyes stayed closed. "I love you," he repeated in earnest.

She smiled and laughed. "You said that once already," she pointed out.

"And I'll say it everyday for the rest of our lives," he said. "You're the first woman I've ever loved and you're most certainly the last."

She blushed a fierce pink all the way up to her ears. "So, not Beyonce then?"

He shook his head. "Most definitely not Beyonce. Just my Baby Girl."

**So I hope you liked it! What happened to Brad you might ask? Well, read the next one to find out and feel free to leave some guesses in a review! More fluff and Brad's fate in the next one...**


	24. No Matter How You Look

**Disclaimer: I own Criminal Minds - nah, I'm just kidding. I don't own any of it.**

**I'm so glad you all liked the chapter from last time! There are a few more coming up that you'll like too...I hope. For now, please enjoy this one. I'm going to try and write one chapter a day for my stories. We'll see how well that works out. Anyhoo, thank you for the reviews...you're all too kind :)**

JJ came away from the door after the cops Penelope had called came and she had told them they were at the wrong house. She rubbed her forehead. "God, this night could not be any more interesting," she murmured happily, heading back towards the kitchen where the rest of the team were. She let Will wrap her in his arms and smiled against his chest. "We're ourselves again! Can you believe it?"

"I had my doubts for a little while, but we're back to us again," Rossi grinned, slinging his arm around Emily's shoulder. "We're us again! Thank God!"

Emily snickered. "I could not be more happy," she said. "Rossi, we need some more scotch while we're celebrating right now. Break out the glasses!"

"Um, guys, what about Brad upstairs?" Hotch pointed out. "Shouldn't we be thinking about what to do with him?"

A voice broke out into the room. "I think you'll find that I can take care of him."

Everyone looked behind them towards the window. Standing there, leaning against the glass was none other than Erin Strauss. They all groaned simultaneously, not wanting to deal with their former Section Chief. Not when they were having a good time celebrating Penelope and Derek falling love.

"What can you do exactly, Erin?" Rossi asked dryly.

"I know exactly what to do," she responded with a smirk. "If you lock him up in a room somewhere, I'll give him exactly what he deserves. That I can promise."

Emily glared at her. "What about our jobs?"

Reid nodded vigorously. "Yeah," he said fiercely. "What about our jobs? Do we get to go back to our lives? And what about rent on my apartment? I haven't exactly been able to pay that."

She shook her head. "It's all taken care of," she said. "You all have nothing to worry about. The team I put in place for you, the one that Penelope worked with, was created by me. No one else will know that you were gone except for Penelope. And her friend Ashley, seeing as she's met you all in these forms." They all rolled their eyes, but she merely smiled. "I took precautions...just in case Agent Morgan _did_ break the spell."

After a moment of silence, Hotch asked, "So, we just lock him up and you'll..._take care of it_?"

"Just like I said," she said. "Brad will get everything he deserves."

XXXXX

"You must have really knocked him out good," Derek said with a smile, looking down at the beautiful woman in his arms.

Penelope looked down at the still unconscious Brad and smirked slightly. "I guess I did, didn't I?" she said. "What are we going to do with him?" She looked down at her ex-boyfriend and felt the immediate urge to kick him in the teeth.

"We're going to take care of him right now," Hotch said. He and Rossi were coming up the stairs and leaned down to pick Brad up by pulling his arms up and dragging him towards an empty room. They tossed him in like he was a bag of garbage and shut the door hastily, locking it behind them. Rossi snickered as the lock went into place.

"That should keep him locked up good and tight," he said with a cheeky grin. Turning around, he realized that he and Hotch were invading the private moment that was going on between Penelope and Derek. He couldn't hold back his smirk. His friend had finally found a woman he loved and they were all back to normal. Yes, he definitely needed a drink. But not one of despair. He needed a drink to celebrate. And he assumed that his friends would also. Tipping his head in the direction of Morgan and Penelope, he clapped a hand on Hotch's shoulder and motioned towards the stairs. "Come on, Aaron. There's a bottle of scotch with our names on it. and I get a feeling that the others - particularly our dear Emily Prentiss - will want to get into it." He paused to add a second thought to his statement. "Oh! And then maybe we can brainstorm about what will happen to Brad! I can't wait to see what Strauss does to him."

Hotch nodded and let out one of his rare smile. They headed towards the stairs. "Let's go then," he said. He looked towards Derek and Penelope and resisted the urge to snicker. Time for the happy couple to get some alone time he figured.

Once they disappeared, Penelope looked back up at Derek and smiled. Her heart was in her eyes. She truly loved him. Outside the weather was storming, but now her mood was the complete opposite of it. She was more thrilled than she had ever been in her life. There was no way to describe how lucky she felt. Cupping both of his cheeks in her hands, she kissed him once more. "I want you to know that I really do love you," she whispered. "I wanted to tell you that months ago. I just - didn't know how to tell you." She paused to smile sheepishly. "That and I thought you were interested in women like Beyonce."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. "And I thought that I was too ugly to love," he admitted. "But you showed me that I wasn't. You made me feel like no one else in the world mattered."

"I will love you no matter what you look like," she said softly.

He grinned and lifted her off her feet, twirling her around in a circle. "That's all that matters to me."

When he set her down on her feet, she looked up and cocked an eyebrow. "So, not that I mind or anything, but how did all..._this_ happen? And did I hear Strauss' name mentioned? Like, _Erin_ Strauss?"

He took her hand and started leading her towards his room. Both of them sat down on his bed and he kissed the top of her head. "Well, it's a long story...if you want to hear it, that is," he said.

Her face perked up and she nodded. "Let's hear it, then," she said.

Forty five minutes later, Penelope was speechless, her head resting against Derek's chest. He had just told her everything: how Strauss crashed his party, how she had turned them into people they weren't, how she had told him in order for them to change back he had to learn to love someone and someone had to fall in love with him right back. But other than the technical parts of the story, he had told her everything about how he felt: how he thought she was beautiful from the first moment he saw her, how he wanted nothing more than to protect her from all harm, how he was too scared to tell her how he felt.

"Wow," she whistled. "That's some story."

He nodded. "Strauss said she wanted me to learn about true love," he murmured. "And that's what I discovered. That the thing I thought was nothing more than myth was very real."

"I can't believe that it was someone like _me_ would change you," she said softly. "I'm not someone who does things like that...you know, changing a person's life."

"You're stronger than you think you are," he murmured. "You're the best person I know. You showed me to look beyond appearances and find the inside of someone. I see the world in a completely different light now." He tipped her chin up and kissed her.

She melted into the kiss and her fingers splayed across his broad chest. "You're wonderful to me," she said. "I mean, when I first met you the only thing pretty about you was how you looked. But obviously you're different now. And to tell you the truth, I like you a lot better now. A _lot_ better."

"I'm so glad," he said softly.

XXXXX

Erin Strauss opened the door to the room Rossi had pointed her in the direction of. She saw her new project lying on the ground. However, when she looked at him, the most her aura seeking eyes could find was a black circle. And black consumed light. There was no chance of saving Brad. With Derek Morgan, his aura had been dark and almost murky pink, which meant he was immature and dishonest. But there had still been color in there. And color meant they could be changed.

Brad could never be changed. It was simple as that.

Looking down at him, she poked him slightly with her toe and tilted her head to the side. "What to do with you?" she muttered aloud. "What...to...do?"

Then an idea hit her.

"Oh, I know exactly what to do with you," she purred.

When she was done with her work, she walked back towards the kitchen and looked at all the team members with a smile on her face. She set the glass cage she was carrying down on the countertop and nodded to the shocked team members' faces. "Well?" she asked. "What do you think?"

It was Hotch who spoke first. "Er, what exactly is _that_?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Who do you think it is, Agent Hotchner? It's Brad, course."

"You turned him into...a _rat_?" Emily sputtered, putting her scotch glass down. For a moment she just stared at the scuttling brown rat in the cage, but then after a moment of silence, she began to laugh hysterically. "Oh my God, you guys! She turned him into a fucking rat!"

Strauss nodded, glancing down at the rat. "Yes," she said. "I did. Now, he will stay like this forever. Well, at least until his life span as a rat runs out. They don't live very long. Considering his attempts at harming Ms. Garcia, I'd say this was a fit punishment."

"I couldn't agree more, Erin," Rossi said, raising his glass to her. "Care to stay for a glass?"

She shook his head. "Oh, no," she said. "I've got to work tomorrow. But I expect all of you to be back to work next Monday. Make sure you're ready to profile, Agents."

"Oh, we will be," Reid said, downing his tumbler of scotch.

**I'm not sure if there will be one or two more chapters after this one. Probably two. We'll see how all goes. Please review!**


	25. And They Lived Happily Ever After

**Disclaimer: I own nadda...sadly.**

**So, I have decided to make this my last installment of this story :( This has been an incredible ride and I want to tell you all how much I appreciate your reviews, favorites, and follows. I'm very grateful and I hope to convey that to you all. Now, I know what my next fairytale retelling will be (JJ/Hotch in a Sleeping Beauty retelling I'm titling 'Awaken') but I'm eager to do another one with Morgan and Garcia. So (after Awaken is finished, of course) the choices for fairy tales for our Hot Stuff and Baby Girl are: **_**Little Mermaid**_** or **_**Snow White**_**. You know what, I'll even throw in **_**Aladdin**_**, which will take a little more time, but it's doable. Please let me know about which of these three only. I'm not too fond of Cinderella for Penelope and Derek. I'd maybe do it for JJ, though.**

**As always, thank you for your kind reviews and I hope this wraps up in a way you'll like it :)**

_5 Years Later_

"As the Prince lay dying, the Princess said three little words. Do you remember what words they are?"

Her child, who was leaning against her shoulder and had her arms wrapped around her waist, grinned. Smiling brightly, she yelled happily, "I love you! She said 'I love you,' Mama!"

Penelope smiled. "That's right, sweetie? And you remember what happened after that don't you?" She already knew the answer. Her child loved hearing this story over and over. It was her favorite bedtime story. She heard it every night before she went to sleep.

"They lived happily ever after!"

"Good job, sweetie. And then the Prince and the Princess lived happily ever after," Penelope murmured, stroking her four year old daughter's brown hair. She kissed her forehead and smiled. "You never get tired of that story, do you?" Again, she knew the exact answer.

Her daughter shook her head and grinned, showing off her baby teeth. "I would _never_ get tired of that story," she responded. "It's my _favorite_." She perked up again and pointed to the glass cage in the corner of her room. "Mama, can I give a goodnight kiss to Whiskers?"

Smirking at the cage, she sighed dramatically and nodded. "I _suppose _so," she said. Ever since he had been changed to a rat five years ago, Brad had served one purpose: a pet for her children. At first she had wanted to get rid of him, release him into the woods to be eaten by a bigger animal that might find him. Or at the very least trampled. But then when thought about it, she _wanted _him to witness how happy she and Derek were. She _wanted _him to see everything that her life had to offer. She did not know if he was aware of what was going on or if he had a true rat's brain, but he at least served one good purpose: a pet for her children. At least until he died anyway.

Not to mention the name her daughter had affectionately bestowed upon him. Whiskers wasn't quite the name he would have wanted in his human years.

Untucking her daughter from the covers, she pulled her along towards the cage and opened it, pulling the rat out and letting her kiss it on the top of his head. Then she put him back. "Alright you," she said, picking her up and kissing her cheek. "Time for bed. You need your beauty sleep if you want to grow up just like the Princess."

Her daughter yawned and let Penelope tuck her back in. A soft knock sounded from the door and she looked in the direction of it to find her father coming in, cradling little seven month old Greyson in his arms. He flashed her his brilliant smile and she yelped out, "Daddy!" A smile covered her face and her father sat on the opposite side of the bed to Penelope.

"Hey little girl," he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. Greyson gurgled in protest, but otherwise remained quiet. He was a shockingly quiet baby, preferring silence to the loud mouth his sister had on her. "You ready for bed?"

"Mama told me the story about the beautiful princess and the prince who was ugly until she told him she loved him," she said proudly.

Derek cocked a brow. "Didn't Aunt Ashley tell you that just before she left to go home?"

She nodded sincerely. "Aunt JJ told it to me too," she said smugly.

He shook his head and laughed. "You do love that story, don't you?" he asked fondly.

"I _do_ love that story," she said happily. She yawned again and snuggled into her covers, hugging her toy lion to her chest. "But now I'm sleepy."

"I know you are, Baby Doll," he murmured, stroking her hair. "You sleep tight now."

"Okay," she said, her eyes fluttering shut. Derek rose from the bed and Penelope leaned down to kiss her daughter on the forehead.

"Sweet dreams, my little Belle," she whispered lovingly.

XXXXX

"They both asleep?" Penelope asked as Derek came back into their room and shut the door. They were staying at the mansion for their Christmas and were enjoying every moment of it. They had even invited Strauss to the party, however she was otherwise "engaged." Whatever that meant. But they didn't care anymore. The woman had brought them together. As far as Penelope and Derek were concerned, Erin Strauss would never receive another dirty look again.

Unless she messed with the BAU's way of working, of course.

He nodded and stripped down to his boxers, crawling into bed beside his wife. "Yep," he murmured. "Both of them are out like lights." He kissed the side of her neck, railing his mouth down her shoulder, then back up to her ear.

"Can you believe how fast they're both growing?" Penelope whispered. "I never want them to grow up. Then I could keep them forever with us."

"Yeah, but you'll be okay," he said. "You'll be so proud of them, it will seem like these worries are just a thing of the past."

She turned to face him and grasped his face in both her hands. She kissed him softly. "You're right. But that still doesn't change how I feel now. I'll wait for the future to get over it."

He grinned. "Sounds good, Baby Girl," he murmured. He yawned. "I think it's time we turn the lights out." He leaned over her and turned the light out. "I love you, my Beauty."

"And I love you, Mr. Morgan," she giggled back before closing her eyes and drifting into a deep, dreamful slumber.

**Very short, but hopefully a sufficient Happily Ever After :)**


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